Deal that allows £10bn data campus proposal to proceed at Northumberland site formally approved by council's cabinet

It emerged last week that American asset management firm Blackstone was in talks to take over the 235-acre former Blyth Power Station site in Cambois, officially known as Northumberland Energy Park 3, and wanted to invest £10bn in a data centre on the site.

The campus, which will be developed by the Blackstone-owned cloud and AI data centre company QTS, could draw further investment of between £5bn and £10bn from the centre’s future tenant, likely a tech giant such as Google or Microsoft.

Councillors formally agreed on Tuesday morning to revise their right to buy back the land in exchange for a fund of up to £110m, set to be invested across the county. Blackstone’s plans were contingent on this being agreed.

The council and Blackstone estimate the project will create 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and over 2,700 indirect jobs.

Council leader Glen Sanderson told the meeting: “I feel very excited about this. I just cannot say how much I welcome this for the sake of our residents, for our county, for the North East, for the country as a whole.

“This will be not just of national significance, it will be of international significance.

“I want to thank once more all those people who have worked so hard and tirelessly to get this to where we are today.”

The site was previously earmarked for an electric car battery gigafactory built by start up firm Britishvolt, but these proposals have now been ditched.

Cllr Richard Wearmouth, deputy leader of the council, said: “In 2020, Northumberland County Council put in place the buy back arrangements for this site. It cost us nothing but it did give us a huge amount of influence and control on behalf of the community and the Northumberland taxpayer.

“The previous owners have spent a very large amount of money on developing that site, but none of it from [the council] and none of it from the government.

“In so doing, they have spent their own money, they have cleared the site, they have levelled parts of the site, they have surveyed it endlessly, and they have added a significant amount of value to that site, for which we are very grateful.”

He added: “It is a great deal for Northumberland taxpayers because we have earned a significant financial return.

“That financial return will allow us to create the platform for a whole series of wider opportunities that will create jobs and investment.”

The cabinet unanimously agreed to the deal. Cllr Sanderson, however, hinted that this may not be the end of battery production plans for the area.

He said: “We have sufficient parcels of land that would support a very large scale enterprise like a battery plant, but we also have a number of other sites that would support other industry and other development.

“As we speak we know there are others that are looking carefully and with interest at some of those sites.

“I think it underlines the fact that Northumberland has a rich history in terms of its industrial past.”