According to DCD, Blackpool Council is offering a £300 million contract to build and operate a 6MVA data center after granting planning permission earlier this month. The provider will need to integrate the facility’s waste heat with Silicon Sands, a digital infrastructure project at the former Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone. The data center will be built on the site of the former airport fire station and use renewable energy with immersion cooling technology. The contract runs for three years starting June 2026, with the award decision expected in late May 2025. Planning permission will be submitted before Christmas following “significant interest” from private investors, and the project benefits from proximity to the Celtix-Connect2 subsea cable linking Europe and the US.
From seaside resort to silicon sands
This is a pretty dramatic pivot for a classic British seaside town. Blackpool’s known for its tower, illuminations, and beach – not exactly tech infrastructure. But here they are throwing £300 million at becoming a data center hub. Councilor Mark Smith calls it “transformational” and claims it could create thousands of well-paid jobs. That’s the kind of economic development any town would want, especially one that’s seen better days tourism-wise.
The green data center play
What’s interesting here is how they’re positioning this as environmentally friendly from the start. Renewable power? Check. Immersion cooling? Check. Waste heat reuse for local communities? Double check. They’re basically trying to build the anti-stereotype data center – one that actually gives back to the community instead of just sucking up power. And with the immersion cooling specifically, they’re clearly targeting high-density computing workloads. This isn’t your grandma’s server room.
Why Blackpool actually makes sense
At first glance, a seaside town seems like an odd choice for data centers. But look closer and the strategy becomes clear. Proximity to the Celtix-Connect2 subsea cable is huge – that’s direct connectivity to both Europe and the US. The former airport site means they’ve got space and probably decent power infrastructure already. And they’re chasing that AI Growth Zone status, which would fast-track future projects. Suddenly this doesn’t seem so crazy anymore.
UK’s regional tech push
Blackpool isn’t alone in this game. The UK government’s Growth Zone program already has three other locations, with South Wales just getting designated last week. What we’re seeing is a deliberate attempt to spread digital infrastructure beyond London. For industrial operations looking to modernize, having reliable computing infrastructure nearby matters. Companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com – the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs – understand that robust local digital infrastructure enables better manufacturing and industrial automation. Basically, if Blackpool pulls this off, it could become a case study for how traditional industrial towns can reinvent themselves for the digital age.
The timeline and challenges
Here’s the thing – planning permission before Christmas sounds ambitious, and we’re still over a year away from the contract even starting. The council says they’ve got “significant interest” from private investors, but turning that into actual shovels in the ground is another matter. Can a seaside town really compete with established data center markets? The waste heat reuse sounds great in theory, but making it work economically is tricky. Still, you’ve got to admire the ambition. This could either be a brilliant transformation or a very expensive lesson in trying to force tech ecosystems where they don’t naturally exist.
