‘It’s smoke and mirrors’: hope turns to fear in Scottish village chosen for AI datacentre
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- UK government announced Lanarkshire as a key 'AI growth zone' to be built by US firm CoreWeave and DataVita, with press-release promises of 3,400 'high-value' jobs and up to £543m for local community programmes.
- DataVita initially told the public the site would be powered by 'on-site' renewable energy, then admitted to the Guardian the zone will instead connect to Britain's straining grid; its 1GW claim would require roughly 44 sq km of energy-park land, of which it currently has less than a tenth.
- Oakes Energy Services representatives door-knocked Newarthill residents with pre-announcement offers of free solar panels, tree planting, and cash for properties — which locals called unenforceable 'sweeteners' aimed at neutralising opposition; a Scottish government FoI audit found DataVita's plan relies on 'available, adjacent land' for renewable energy parks.
- Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) used an FoI request to determine the 3,400-jobs headline figure was adapted from industry estimates for the Cambois site in Northumberland, and concluded actual direct employment could be 'a hundred times' smaller and largely temporary construction work.
- The pledged £543m community fund currently holds no money — it would come from DataVita revenues if generated — while the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology stands by its 3,400 figure, citing construction, supply chain, and wider regional economy roles.
- Newarthill and Airdrie residents in one of Scotland's most deprived post-coal/steel regions fear green belt loss and property devaluation; local historian Ann Glen called the process 'smoke and mirrors' and MSP Meghan Gallacher accused the developer of failing to answer who its energy customers are.
Why it matters: For a community in one of Scotland's most deprived post-industrial regions, APRS's finding that the 3,400-jobs figure may be 'a hundred times' too high — combined with a £543m fund that has no money yet — means locals may bear the land and property costs of an AI buildout without the promised economic benefits. The DataVita pivot from 'on-site renewables' to grid connection, disclosed only when pressed, shows the pitch that won community support was not the plan that will be built.
Ask SkimNews
