The datacentre next door: on the frontline of tech’s latest David v Goliath battle
Summary
A large datacentre has been built next to a small neighborhood in South Wales, causing concern among local residents about noise, pollution, and loss of sunlight. These types of datacentres are growing rapidly across Britain to support big tech companies and the rise of AI, using large amounts of electricity and land.Key Facts
- A hyperscale datacentre 23 meters high is located near 27 houses in Newport, South Wales.
- Residents report noise from cooling equipment and diesel generators, and worry about pollution and quality of life.
- Britain has 315 planned hyperscale datacentres requiring 73 gigawatts of power, much more than current peak demand.
- Wales has the largest datacentre capacity outside London and is a main area for new developments on former industrial sites.
- The UK government supports these datacentres to boost AI growth and economic benefits through faster planning and grid connections.
- Local groups oppose datacentres, citing environmental harm and little local benefit despite large profits for big tech firms.
- Hyperscale datacentres are needed to meet rising data storage and processing demands from cloud computing and AI services.
- Global investment in new datacentres may reach billions of dollars due to expectations about AI-driven economic changes.
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