Lloyds TSB has confirmed its interest in a planned £200 million data centre development project in rural Scotland.
In December, it emerged that the UK bank was considering two new data centre locations, one in Darlington in the North of England and one in Ecclefechan, Dumfrieshire.
Today, the BBC reported that Lloyds has “indicated its intention” to make a formal planning application for the 250-acre Scottish site and has announced two public information meetings with local residents.
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The facility, named ALBA1, has been developed by a company called Internet Villages International Ltd in partnership with power infrastructure vendor APC by Schneider Electric.
IVI Ltd says the location has access to 400MW of power, around 10% of which comes from sustainable energy sources. IVI operates what it describes as a “pay as you grow” model, allowing data centre operators to reserve land for future use without having to pay for it.
In June 2010, Dumfries and Galloway Council granted the project permission in principle. It said that the developers would have to provide a detailed plan for managing the impact on the local environment, ecology and public services before full planning permission would be granted.
A socio-economic report conducted by property development consultancy RPS said that the construction of the facility would create 500 “indirect” jobs. Dumfries and Galloway Council concluded, however, that “relatively few direct employment opportunities are likely to be created”.
