Blackstone completes purchase of Britishvolt site in Northumberland for £10bn data centre project

The leader of Northumberland County Council Glen Sanderson revealed that the sale had gone through in the early hours of Wednesday morning following cabinet’s approval of the deal last month.

Under the terms of the agreement the council has renegotiated the buyback arrangement it had on the land for in the event that the project is not built, which has originally been negotiated when the land was sold to the failed battery startup.

Blackstone, alongside its data subsidiary QTS, plans to build a series of AI data centres on the land which was previously earmarked for a gigafactory producing electric car batteries.

The site, also known as Northumberland Energy Park Phase 3 or NEP 3, will now provide the necessary computing power needed to drive the booming artificial intelligence sector, and could become Europe’s largest data campus.

Up to £10bn will be invested into the area while £110m will be pumped into the council’s coffers to fund business investments across the county.

The £110m was agreed as part of a deal to renegotiate the buyback clause.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the county council on Wednesday, Cllr Sanderson said: “As we move into this next year, we can look forward to some very exciting developments. I can announce that this morning at around 1am Blackstone bought the land at NEP 3 and agreed to a new buy back clause.

“This is tremendous news and I am very proud to be able to say that. This will be the largest investment to come to Northumberland, ever.”

The county council confirmed a new buyback clause was in place. A spokesperson said: “As per the recommendation agreed by cabinet on April 23, now the land transaction is complete, a new buyback arrangement has been put in place in the unlikely event the planned development did not proceed.”

The council said the project will create more than 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, as well as more than 2,700 indirect jobs.