Fawley Waterside Limited has put forward plans to turn the former Fawley Power Station site, on the western side of Southampton Water in Hampshire, UK, into an industrial and commercial campus that includes potential data center developments, according to a report by DatacenterDynamics.
The project is now described as 143,000 sqm (1.539 million sq ft) of floor space, down from an initial 190,000 sqm (2.045 million sq ft), after a consultation period with local residents. The site is planned to host a mix of energy, digital, maritime, commercial and start-up space. Plans were first put forward in June, and a new masterplan has now been detailed. Construction could start in winter 2028.
The developers said "digital industries" at the site could include data centers, AI, and advanced computing, software, and cybersecurity. The number and size of any planned data centers have not been disclosed, but site plans show three large buildings and a number of smaller buildings could be developed. National Grid is preparing a submission to Ofgem requesting approval to upgrade the existing substation at the site.
The 2GW Fawley Power Station was an oil-fired plant, one of the so-called "Hinton Heavies," that launched in 1971 and was decommissioned by RWE in 2013. A previous plan announced in 2017 to convert the site into a new town called Fawley Waterside, with 1,500 residential units, was shelved in 2024 after developers said it was "not financially viable."