Sembcorp Files Planning Application for 280MW Data Center Campus in Teesside, UK
May 21, 2026
Sembcorp Files Planning Application for 280MW Data Center Campus in Teesside, UK
Singaporean state-owned energy and urban development company Sembcorp has submitted a planning application to build a 280MW data center campus at Wilton International, an industrial park in Teesside, North East England. The development, proposed through its British subsidiary Sembcorp Energy UK in partnership with property firm Digital Reef, marks one of the largest data center projects in the region.
The application, filed on May 8 and publicly announced this week as consultations opened, proposes the construction of three data center buildings on a 154,553 square meter (1,663,595 square feet) land parcel. Sembcorp acquired the site for £3.5 million ($4.7 million) in July 2025. The land was previously owned by Peak Rare Earths, an Australian mining company that was acquired by Chinese rare earths producer Shenghe Resources in September 2025.
According to documents submitted as part of the application, Sembcorp and Digital Reef intend for the campus to be air-cooled, a design choice that reflects ongoing industry efforts to balance energy efficiency with the growing cooling demands of high-density AI workloads. Wilton International, which is owned by Sembcorp, hosts the UK’s largest private wire electricity grid, including four on-site power generation units that run on gas, biomass, and non-recyclable domestic waste. This existing infrastructure could give the data center a significant advantage in terms of energy security and sustainability.
The Teesside region, encompassing Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, and Redcar and Cleveland, has been increasingly positioned as a hub for digital infrastructure. Reports emerged last year that the area, formerly home to the 4,500-acre Teesside Steelworks, was being considered as the UK’s second AI Growth Zone. However, that designation—which would provide financial incentives and priority access to power for data centers—has yet to be granted. In a related development, a plan to build a data center on the former steelworks site was approved by the Redcar and Cleveland Council last August, a decision that forced oil and gas giant BP to abandon its plans for a hydrogen project on the same site.
The proposed campus adds to a growing pipeline of large-scale data center projects in the UK, driven by surging demand from cloud computing and AI applications. Digital Reef is also behind a separate 600MW data center proposal in Havering, Essex, underscoring the firm’s aggressive push into the sector. Other industrial tenants at Wilton International include mining company AngloAmerican, chemical firm Huntsman, waste management company Biffa, and polyester producer Alpek Polyester, highlighting the site’s diverse energy-intensive user base.
Source: datacenterdynamics
