1GW Data Center Proposed Alongside UK's Largest Solar Farm in Norfolk

Plans have been unveiled for a data center of up to 1GW alongside a massive new solar farm in Norfolk, UK, in what would mark one of the country's most ambitious integrated renewable energy and digital infrastructure projects to date. The proposal highlights the growing push to co-locate power-hungry data facilities directly with renewable generation sources as the UK races to meet rising demand from cloud computing and artificial intelligence workloads.

The Longmarsh Green Energy project, developed by UK-based renewable energy firm Evolution Power Limited (EPL), would span 4,695 acres across two sites outside the town of King's Lynn. One site lies south of the A47 near the village of Tilney St Lawrence, while the other is close to the villages of Fincham and Barton Bendish. The solar farm element could generate up to 1.3GW of energy, which would make it the largest facility of its kind in the UK, and EPL also plans to install battery storage on the site connected to an existing substation at Walpole.

Details of the data center component remain sparse, but EPL said the facility will feature a closed-loop cooling system designed to keep water use to a minimum. The company expects the project could be operational by 2032 and create 500 permanent jobs alongside thousands of construction roles. Because of its scale, the development is classified as a nationally significant infrastructure project under UK planning law, meaning the national government rather than local councilors will determine whether it proceeds. Community consultation is running until November 26, ahead of the submission of a formal planning application.

The proposal has drawn early political attention. North West Norfolk MP James Wild told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the development "could represent further large-scale industrialization of the landscape." Norfolk does not currently host a large data center market, though a 150MW facility known as the Apex data center is being planned outside Norwich and is already facing significant opposition from nearby residents. EPL, for its part, is working on three other solar farms—two in Kent and one in Hertfordshire—but does not appear to have prior experience building data centers.

The Longmarsh project reflects a broader industry trend of pairing large-scale renewable generation with data center load, as developers seek to secure power supply and manage grid constraints. If approved, the combination of a 1.3GW solar park, battery storage, and a 1GW data center would establish Norfolk as a significant new node in the UK's digital infrastructure landscape, while also testing the planning system's willingness to accommodate projects that blur the line between energy and technology development.