Latest news with #ColliersProperties
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Amazon data centres to consume ‘as much electricity to power Burnley'
A complex of huge data centres being built by Amazon in Britain will consume as much electricity needed to power a town the size of Burnley, campaigners have claimed. The proposed data centres, near Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire, are projected to consume around 114.8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year. This equivalent to the power consumed by more than 42,500 UK households, according to researchers at Global Action Plan, which is campaigning against the development. It exceeds the number of homes in Burnley, which stood at 41,955 after the most recent Census in 2021. Planning documents show the two data centres in the development will include 42 back-up diesel generators, each around 25 metres tall, that need to be fired up fortnightly to check they are working. It is estimated this will produce the same emissions as 1,079 homes heated by gas. The plans were lodged with Central Bedfordshire Council by Colliers Properties, a known partner of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the retail giant's cloud computing division. The documents name Amazon Data Services UK as the site's eventual operator. Known as Linmere Island, the project would sit on an empty 22-acre greenfield site. While the plans also include 140 solar panels, it is not clear how much power they will supply to the data centres. It comes amid growing pushback against a slew of 'hyperscale' data centre projects being lined up across Britain – a central part of the Prime Minister's strategy to boost economic growth – with campaigners raising concerns over their environmental impact. One complex near Blyth, Northumberland, is forecast to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than Birmingham Airport, which carries 12m passengers per year. Another in Elsham, Lincolnshire, is predicted to generate five times the carbon dioxide of the same airport. It underscores the challenge faced by Sir Keir Starmer as he battles to restore economic growth while hitting net zero targets. Data centres are vital to artificial intelligence, and were classed as critical national infrastructure last September, with Sir Keir establishing 'AI growth zones' to speed up such building projects. AWS set out plans last September to invest £8bn in the UK to build data centres. At the time, Tanuja Randery of AWS, said its strategy would help meet the 'growing needs' of its customers and 'support the transformation of the UK's digital economy'. The investment was hailed by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, as 'the start of the economic revival', and that it showed 'Britain is a place to do business'. But such developments require vast amounts of energy that puts it at odds with the Government's mission to become net zero by 2050. It has prompted Matt Garman, chief executive of AWS, to urge the UK to increase its supply of nuclear energy for data centres in an interview with the BBC last month. There are also mounting concerns over the amount of water that some data centres require to keep their computer banks cool enough to function properly. Oliver Hayes, head of policy and campaigns at Global Action Plan, said: 'It's astonishing that communities are expected to like it or lump it when it comes to this wave of giant data centres. 'Amazon is opaque about how much of Houghton Regis' water it will suck up in order to cool the IT equipment, but given this one data centre will require as much electricity as a town the size of Burnley, we can assume the pressure on local water supplies will be intense – to say nothing of the noise and air pollution caused by fortnightly testing of its 42 backup diesel generators.' Amazon declined to comment. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Amazon data centres to consume ‘as much electricity to power Burnley'
A complex of huge data centres being built by Amazon in Britain will consume as much electricity needed to power a town the size of Burnley, campaigners have claimed. The proposed data centres, near Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire, are projected to consume around 114.8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year. This equivalent to the power consumed by more than 42,500 UK households, according to researchers at Global Action Plan, which is campaigning against the development. It exceeds the number of homes in Burnley, which stood at 41,955 after the most recent Census in 2021. Planning documents show the two data centres in the development will include 42 back-up diesel generators, each around 25 metres tall, that need to be fired up fortnightly to check they are working. It is estimated this will produce the same emissions as 1,079 homes heated by gas. The plans were lodged with Central Bedfordshire Council by Colliers Properties, a known partner of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the retail giant's cloud computing division. The documents name Amazon Data Services UK as the site's eventual operator. Known as Linmere Island, the project would sit on an empty 22-acre greenfield site. While the plans also include 140 solar panels, it is not clear how much power they will supply to the data centres.
