Plans to build the UK’s largest data centre scheme near Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire have gained outline approval.

The massive AI data centre campus would deliver over 1.5m square metres of hyperscale floorspace across a campus of 15 data halls and is expected to cost around £7.5bn to build.

This makes it one the most ambitious digital infrastructure projects ever targeting 1,000MW of IT load to serve the accelerating needs of artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

The project is fronted by a specifically created company, Elsham Tech Park Ltd, which is overseen by Greystoke, a specialist planning and infrastructure developer.

The Elsham Tech Park proposal covers 176 hectares at the former RAF Elsham Wolds airfield.

It includes a major new energy centre generating up to 49.9MW on site, alongside a battery storage compound, substations, district heating plant and flexible commercial space.

In addition to tech infrastructure, the masterplan includes space for energy-intensive greenhouse agriculture, aiming to reuse excess heat from servers for food production.

The plans are backed by a 10-year construction window that could support between 2,600 to 3,600 full-time equivalent construction jobs annually both on and off site.

Greystock said construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first phase of the campus set to open in 2029.

Buildings across the campus would range from 7m to 23m in height, supported by extensive landscape bunds up to 10m high, plus woodland planting belts to shield views from the surrounding countryside.

A spine road would link all 15 zones, each capable of standalone delivery, with a new primary access route from the Flarepath inside the existing industrial estate.

If built, the scheme would position Lincolnshire at the heart of the country’s AI and cloud computing boom.