Blackstone’s plan to build a £10 billion ($13.3bn) data center on a derelict industrial site in Blyth, UK, has cleared a key planning hurdle.

Outline planning permission for the 10-building data center was granted by Northumberland County Council at a planning committee meeting on Tuesday.

The data center will be built on the site of a former coal-fired power plant in the village of Cambois, just outside Blyth in Northumberland. The land had been earmarked for a battery production factory owned by the now defunct electric vehicle battery firm Britishvolt. However, work on the site halted in 2022, and Britishvolt went into administration a year later.

Blackstone announced last year that it had purchased the site, and the data center will be operated by its QTS subsidiary. Each data center building on the campus is set to provide 72MW of capacity, giving the site a total of 720MW. The site will benefit from QTS’s water-free cooling system.

Members of the planning committee unanimously backed the plan, meaning Blackstone and QTS will now move forward with a detailed application.

Councilor Jeff Reid said: “Let’s be excited by this. It is going to put us on the map, front and center in a technological revolution.”

And another committee member, Alex Wallace, said: “In 1968, the coal mine closed. Two thousand people left the area to find work.

“We are now saying we are going to provide that work for their grandchildren. I’m just over the moon.”

Indeed, Blackstone says the development will create 400 permanent data center roles at full build-out, and support 1,200 construction jobs.

However, the local Choppington Parish Council said in its response to the plan that, while the data center could “contribute positively” to the local community, it fears it may have limited impact in terms of employment and community benefits.

The parish council also has concerns about the impact of large vehicles using village roads during construction, though it did not express a view supporting or opposing the plan. Three letters of objection were received by the council, relating to issues of overshadowing and blocking of natural light, and the potential for noise to be generated at the site.

QTS chairman and CEO Chad Williams said the company was “honored” to be granted planning permission.

Williams said: “It is the first step in building a lasting partnership with the Cambois community. Together we will build the next generation of data centres, collaborating with the local community, training providers, and businesses.

“We are committed to this opportunity and dedicated to supporting the prosperity of the local area.”

News of the data center project was welcomed by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer when it was announced in September 2024.

Starmer, whose government has been changing planning rules to encourage digital infrastructure projects, said: “New investment such as the one we’ve announced with Blackstone today is a huge vote of confidence in the UK and it proves that Britain is back as a major player on the global stage.”