This week in UK data centres:
- HM Treasury has published a Data Centre Covenant with the Budget, offering “strategic data centres” reserved and reallocated grid capacity, and the government has opened a consultation on a draft National Policy Statement that closes on 8 January 2027
- Reuters, citing the Financial Times, reports that TPG is in talks to buy Ark Data Centres from Elliott Investment Management at a valuation of about £3.8bn ($5bn), with no deal certain
- CX Tech’s application for eight 120MW data centres, about 1GW in total, at Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway has drawn more than 1,000 objections, with Scottish ministers promising national guidance before Christmas
The Budget sets the terms: a data centre covenant, priority for strategic sites and a draft planning statement.
The tests are specific. Developers are expected to pay their fair share of energy costs and make credible commitments for the grid capacity they request. Strategic data centres should agree a Local Benefit Plan scaled to the size of the development. New facilities should be designed for a power usage effectiveness of 1.3 or better, and strategic sites report annually on energy, water, efficiency, emissions and heat reuse.
In return, the covenant lists what government will do for strategic sites: a Ministerial Control Centre chaired by the Minister for AI, reserving future grid capacity and reallocating capacity released when other projects leave the queue, transferring pre-2030 data centre connection contracts to strategic data centres, and a tightly controlled framework for temporary on-site power for “exceptionally strategic projects”. The definition of a strategic data centre will be set out “in due course”.
The government has also opened a consultation on a draft National Policy Statement for data centres. It will guide examinations and decisions for projects directed into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime, covers England, and closes at 11:59pm on 8 January 2027. Resultsense, citing City AM, notes that ministers promised in November 2025 to consult within three months, and that the connection queue reached about 125GW by June 2025, with data centres accounting for at least 80GW of it.
For developers, the signal is that grid position is now partly a policy question. Priority is being offered in return for evidence: a credible capacity request, a benefit plan and efficiency commitments. Resultsense’s reading is that the covenant turns community benefit from a sweetener into a condition of access, which helps projects that can show it and adds cost for those that cannot.
Sources: The Data Centre Covenant (HM Treasury, GOV.UK) | Draft National Policy Statement for Data Centres, consultation (GOV.UK) | Data centre covenant and grid access (Resultsense, citing City AM and the FT)
TPG is reported to be in talks to buy Ark Data Centres at about £3.8bn.
Reuters reports, citing the Financial Times, that TPG is in talks to buy Ark Data Centres from Elliott Investment Management, which has owned Ark since 2012, at a valuation of about £3.8bn ($5bn). Reuters could not verify the report, neither TPG nor Ark had responded to requests for comment, and no deal is certain.
Reuters notes that Ark runs a joint venture with the Cabinet Office, Crown Hosting Data Centres, which gives it access to the government’s public data centre requirements. Reuters gave no detail on Ark’s sites or capacity. A 2025 Reuters report had said a sale could raise more than £3bn ($4bn).
Ark is also the operator at Longcross Park in Surrey, where Nebius has taken the remaining capacity in the LP01 building and Ark has planning permission for a next phase that includes a new facility called DC03. The reported price is for an operating platform with live, let capacity and planning in hand, which is the kind of asset the reported price relates to.
Sources: TPG in talks to buy Ark Data Centres (Resultsense, citing Reuters and the FT) | Nebius scales AI infrastructure across Ark’s Surrey campus (Data Centre Magazine)
Chapelcross: a 1GW application tests Scotland’s consent system before national guidance arrives.
ITV Border reports that CX Tech puts potential investment at about £16.5bn, plans 2GW of renewable generation within 20km of the site, and says closed-loop cooling would use water equal to 32 households a year. The developer cites 750 construction jobs over an eight-year build and about 450 permanent jobs. The same report says more than 1,000 objections have been lodged, and critics including the Scottish Greens have challenged the energy and emissions claims, which CX Tech rejects.
The case shows the consent test applying at the largest scale. A power plan and a benefit offer are in the application, and the argument is about energy use, emissions and whether the process should wait for guidance. A developer in Scotland should read the guidance as the next gate.
Sources: Chapelcross data centre application (Resultsense) | Plans submitted for what could be the world’s largest data centre (ITV Border) | Chapelcross data centre objections and guidance (Resultsense)
The week in one line: the government has written terms for priority access to power, a reported £3.8bn bid puts a price on a UK platform with live capacity, and a 1GW Scottish application is waiting on guidance. Access is increasingly something a project has to earn.
Armason tracks infrastructure signals across the UK and European data centre market. For site availability, grid intelligence, or pipeline advisory, visit armason.co.uk.
Related reading
· Data centre grid connection in the UK: timelines, queues and what operators need to know
· On-site power generation for data centres in the UK: why the grid queue is accelerating the shift
· The Ofgem data centre commitment fee: what operators with grid positions need to do
