Residents in Wales are organizing against proposed hyperscale datacentres, while the Plaid Cymru-led government has ordered Cardiff council to pause a controversial application, first reported by Theguardian. The dispute pits plans for energy-intensive facilities against concerns over local land use, emissions and whether promised jobs will benefit the people who live nearby.
The scale of the grid queue helps explain the tension. There are 315 hyperscale datacentres waiting to connect to the national grid, and together they would require 73GW, 28GW more than the typical 45GW peak demand on a cold winter’s day.
On Newport’s western edge, a 23-metre-high datacentre borders an enclave of 27 homes on a 46-acre campus. Resident Dale Johnston already keeps his bathroom window closed because of a low hum from another facility there. He fears the new building’s 36 sets of air-blast coolers will create a constant drone, and that regular tests of 60 backup diesel generators could produce harmful fumes.
In Cardiff, the council wants to sell a park-and-ride site used by NHS staff to developer Curtis Hall for a datacentre. The proposed facility would use up to 150 megawatts (MW) of electricity a year, more than triple the demand of a city the size of Cardiff. More than 1,200 planning objections have been lodged, and developer-filed documents say seven gas turbines in a temporary energy centre are expected to power the facility around the clock for five years.
Air-quality assessments commissioned by Curtis Hall estimate emissions will be within safe levels. The developer says the scheme cannot proceed without 100% compliance with environmental and public health requirements. The centre is expected to employ up to 125 people; the thousands of jobs cited by councillor Lee Bridgeman were a possible knock-on effect he said he had been told about. Bridgeman later filed a formal objection after hearing from residents.
The Welsh government is developing a national datacentre strategy as opposition grows over how new facilities should be built and who should benefit from them.