Amazon plans data centre at former power plant site

US tech company Amazon is awaiting planning approval to build a data centre at the site of a former power station.

The company currently has a reserved matters application for the development on land at Didcot A Power Station, detailing elements of four data centre buildings.

The planned campus would also include a gate house and other supporting buildings.

The target date for the Vale of White Horse District Council (VWHDC) to make a decision is 27 January, subject to required amendments.

The site is located on the former power station situated northwest of Didcot and approximately 13 miles (20km) south of Oxford.

According to the application, the Didcot development would form part of Amazon's planned £8bn UK investment in building, operating and maintaining data centres from 2024-2028.

The coal-fired Didcot A was commissioned in 1964 by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) before it was connected to the national grid in 1970.

It closed in March 2013 and three of its cooling towers were demolished in July 2014.

The boiler of the disused building collapsed in February 2016 and killed four workers.

Following the tragedy, its remaining 375ft (114.3m) high towers were taken down on 18 August 2019.

Ian Snowdon, Conservative councillor for Didcot West, said it marked "a new chapter for Didcot A".

"I think in general terms it's good news," he added.

"As a caveat, we've got to make sure that Amazon play their part in the community.

"But with the government announcing this area as the seat of AI and as a technology centre, these data centres will support jobs being created locally in other sectors as well."

The vicinity of the site is already seeing the development of a new £1.9bn data centre campus by CloudHQ.

Snowdon said he had concerns regarding issues such as using gas-powered generators as backup: "Having said all that, we have to accept that this site used to be a coal-powered power station, which created a lot of noise pollution and other environmental impacts on its own.

"I personally would hope that the planning officers would insist on using some of the tremendous heat that these data centres bring, out to supply other buildings."

The BBC understands that all the electricity consumed by Amazon operations, including its data centres, has been matched with 100% renewable energy since 2023.

In November, German power producer RWE reported a €225m (£167m) gain from the sale of a data centre project on the site of its former plant to "a hyperscaler".

Amazon has not confirmed to the BBC whether it has purchased that site.

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