Former IBM Site, Spango Valley, Greenock
Data Centre and Battery Energy Storage System Public Consultation Website
Welcome to this public exhibition which is being held on behalf of Slate Island Developments Ltd. (‘the Applicant’) in relation to their proposed data centre development at the former IBM site, Spango Valley, Inverkip Road, Greenock.
Alongside the data centre, the Applicant also proposes to deliver a Battery Energy Storage System (‘BESS’) which will be co-located adjacent to the data centre.
Consultation Updates
Following the first public exhibition on the 24th March and online interactive event on 26th March, we received feedback from the community.
Planning & Energy
The data centre requires to be determined under the terms of the Town & Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, as a Major planning application. To kick start this process, a Proposal of Application Notice (‘PAN’) has been submitted to Inverclyde Council (‘the Council’), elected members and the community council.
Due to the anticipated energy capacity of the BESS (c.99MW), it is required to be consented via a ‘Section 36’ application under the terms of the Electricity Act 1989. This application will be submitted to the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit (‘ECU’) although we will look to ‘twin track’ this application in parallel with the planning application for the data centre. For Section 36 applications, rather than determining the application, the Council are a key consultee. They will be engaged at all stages of the process, and ultimately decide whether to object to, or support, the application.
This exhibition is being held to meet the requirements of both the Electricity Act (for the BESS) and Town & Country Planning Act (for the data centre). Given the inter-relationship between both proposals, it is considered practical to display materials, and seek feedback, on both proposals at the same exhibition.
We are keen to gather the views and comments from the local community and understand any key issues that we might need to address as part of the application submissions.
