CX Tech Files £16.5bn 1GW Data Centre Plan at Chapelcross Site

CX Tech Limited has lodged a Planning Permission in Principle application with Dumfries and Galloway Council for an eight-building data centre campus on the former Chapelcross nuclear power station site near Annan, with roughly 120MW per building for about 1GW of total capacity across 162,000 square metres and a stated investment value of £16.5 billion, Data Center Dynamics reported.

The application, reference 26/1649/PIP and validated on 28 September 2026, pitches direct and private-wire connections to wind, solar and biomass, with the developer citing roughly 1GW of consented or planned renewable generation within 5km of the site and about 2GW within 20km, alongside a closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling design. Construction is proposed over 2027 to 2035 if permission is granted this year.

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Dumfries and Galloway and for Scotland," CX Tech chief executive Graeme Anderson said, adding that the site "has the potential to bring together our renewable energy strengths, digital infrastructure and high-value jobs in a way that few other sites can."

Scottish Green MSP Laura Moodie, who represents South Scotland, has called for rejection. "The site at Chapelcross should be the best place to put a data centre by utilising a decommissioned brownfield site," Moodie said, "but the proposal which has been lodged is reckless and endangers our energy supply and natural environment." The Scottish Government has indicated no decisions on hyperscale applications will be reached before the end of the year, following a non-binding Holyrood motion earlier in September and a new Environmental Impact Assessment direction effective 17 September 2026.

Comments close on 29 October 2026. CX Tech has scheduled information events at Victoria Halls in Annan on 20 October and at Creca Village Hall on 21 October.