Newport Data Centre Approved on Former Liberty Steel Site 2026

Key Points

• Newport City Council has granted outline planning permission for the construction of a modular data centre on part of the old Newport steelworks on Corporation Road.
• Decision Notice of the Newport City Council shows that the approval with conditions has been granted on 31 July 2026 in application 26/0191, proposed by Era4 Limited and Rutland Limited.
• It covers Liberty Steel, Corporation Road, Newport, NP19 4XE and includes a secure compound, external plant and equipment, engineering works, staff accommodation and ancillary works.
• The project is connected to the company Era4, previously known as Carbon3.ai, which is planning a first phase “The Mill” for 2027.
• In its description, the company mentioned the long-term vision for the campus to have the capacity of 1GW and to accommodate as much as 400,000 Nvidia VR200 or Vera Rubin GPUs, however, it is not yet a commitment.
• Outline Planning Permission for the project provides for construction of modular data centres in a disused industrial building with parking below and new external cladding.
• Design places the equipment on the first floor partly due to the risk of flooding close to the River Usk.

Newport (Wales Times) November 03, 2026 — Plans for a “modern, energy efficient” data centre on part of the former uk/local/newport/">Newport steelworks site have been approved by Newport City Council, clearing the way for modular computing infrastructure to be installed in a disused industrial building on Corporation Road. As reported by Herald Wales, the council approved proposals for the facility on land linked to Liberty Steel’s Newport works.

The approval concerns an outline planning application for a secure compound, external plant and equipment, engineering operations, staff accommodation and associated works needed to create a modular data centre. Newport City Council’s decision notice states that application 26/0191 was granted with conditions on 31 July 2026. The application was registered on 19 March 2026 and was submitted by Era4 Limited and Rutland Limited.

What has Newport City Council approved?

The council approved an outline application for the creation of a modular data centre at Liberty Steel, Corporation Road, Newport, NP19 4XE. According to the council’s Notice of Decision, the proposal includes “the creation of a secure compound and the installation of external plant and equipment to create a modular data centre together with associated equipment and structures, engineering operations, staff accommodation and associated works”.

The decision notice names B. Hooton of Era4 Limited and Rutland Limited, based at The Black & White Building, 74 Rivington Street, London, as the applicant contact. The council’s document confirms that the development must be implemented in accordance with specified plans and documents, although the publicly available notice excerpt does not set out every condition in full.

As reported by Herald Wales, the plans were described as being for a “modern, energy efficient” data centre. The approval applies to part of the wider former steelworks site rather than the entire 230-acre Corporation Road site.

How will the data centre be built?

The scheme is designed around modular data centre units installed inside an existing industrial building that is no longer in use. As reported by DataCenters News on 25 October 2026, the first stage, known as “The Mill”, is due to come online in 2027 and will use factory-built modular units within the existing building shell.

The planning application showed the modular units on the first floor of the building, with car parking beneath them. DataCenters News reported that this arrangement was partly explained by flood risk from the nearby River Usk. The only significant external change listed in the application was new cladding on the outer walls.

Era4 intends to retain the site’s original brick chimney as a landmark. The company also plans to use a closed-loop cooling system to limit water consumption, alongside direct-to-chip liquid cooling. According to Baxtel News, recovered heat could be sent to a proposed swimming pool as part of the wider redevelopment.

What capacity could the Newport campus reach?

Era4 has set out a long-term ambition for the Newport campus to reach 1GW of power at full build-out, with space for the equivalent of up to 400,000 Nvidia VR200 GPUs. As reported by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji of Baxtel News on 22 October 2026, those figures were first reported in detail by Data Center Dynamics.

These figures describe a potential long-term scale rather than an immediate construction commitment. DataCenters News stated that Era4 has not said how much power will be available when the first stage opens, and that the application did not state an IT capacity. The gap between the planned 2027 first phase and the 1GW ambition will depend on factors including electricity availability, financing and customer demand.

Era4 says it intends to rely on a mix of responsibly sourced power under long-term contracts. The company has not publicly disclosed the full commercial or energy arrangements for the Newport project.

Who is behind the Newport project?

The project is associated with Era4, a UK operator previously known as Carbon3.ai. DataCenters News reported that the company launched in 2025 as Carbon3.ai and rebranded as Era4 earlier in 2026.

According to Baxtel News, Era4 owns the Newport land and plans to build AI infrastructure on about 20% of the 230-acre site. Era4 chief commercial officer Karl Havard told SiliconANGLE that the remainder is set aside for a wider redevelopment including a technical college, a sports and leisure facility, and conservation and research areas for schools and universities.

“It brings the community back to life because we’re going to build a vocational tech college as part of it,” Havard said, as quoted by Baxtel News. “Newport City Council has asked for sports facilities and a swimming pool. We’re going to build that on behalf of them.”

Why is the former steelworks site suitable?

The Corporation Road site sits beside the River Usk and covers about 230 acres. Former industrial land can be attractive for data centre development because it may already have substantial electrical grid infrastructure, reducing some of the connection challenges that can affect new sites in the UK.

DataCenters News reported that placing factory-built modules inside an existing building can reduce construction cost and planning complexity, while allowing capacity to be added in stages as power becomes available. The approach also limits heavy construction compared with building an entirely new facility.

The site falls within the South Wales AI Growth Zone. As reported by DataCenters News and Baxtel News, this UK Government designation is intended to encourage data centre development through incentives and priority access to power.

What does the approval mean for jobs?

The planning application projected eight full-time jobs. This figure relates to the outline modular data centre application rather than any wider employment that could arise from the broader redevelopment or from a larger future build-out.

Era4’s wider proposals include a vocational technical college, sports and leisure facilities, conservation areas and research spaces. These elements have been described by the company as part of its long-term plans for the remainder of the site, but they are separate from the specific outline consent for the modular data centre.

How does this fit into Newport’s data centre sector?

Newport already has a growing data centre presence. Herald Wales previously reported that Microsoft received planning permission in 2024 for a data centre at the former Quinn Radiators factory site on Celtic Way, with the company expected to create a reported 120 jobs.

Herald Wales also reported in September 2025 that Vantage Data Centres was developing one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Newport, in a project expected to create 11,500 jobs. Those figures relate to separate developments and should not be treated as projections for the Era4 scheme.

DataCenters News noted that Era4 has outlined a wider platform spanning dozens of locations, including a proposed modular AI data centre in Derbyshire and a site in Canterbury, Kent, intended to run on landfill gas. A proposal on Anglesey was rejected. In September 2026, Era4 partnered with UK cloud provider Civo on a sovereign AI cloud service.

Background of the development

The Newport site is part of the former Liberty Steel works on Corporation Road. Liberty Steel still operates a plant on the wider site, but the building identified for the data centre is no longer in use, according to DataCenters News.

Newport City Council granted change-of-use permission for the scheme in March 2026. The later outline approval, recorded in the council’s decision notice on 31 July 2026, covers the secure compound, external plant, engineering operations and associated works required for the modular facility.

The project has emerged during a period of increasing interest in AI infrastructure across Wales and the wider UK. The South Wales AI Growth Zone is intended to support such development, while former industrial and brownfield sites are being considered for data centre use because of their existing land, buildings and grid connections.

Prediction: How could this affect Newport residents and businesses?

For Newport residents, the immediate effect is likely to be limited while the first phase is prepared, but the project could bring longer-term changes to the Corporation Road area. The approved data centre application projects eight full-time jobs, while Era4’s wider proposals could, if delivered, add education, leisure and community facilities to land that includes a disused industrial building.

For local businesses, the scheme could create demand for construction, electrical, cooling, security, maintenance and specialist technology services. If the first phase opens in 2027 and later expansion proceeds, suppliers in South Wales may also see opportunities linked to modular infrastructure, power systems and site operations.

For the wider Welsh technology sector, the project adds to Newport’s cluster of data centre activity. Its significance will depend on whether Era4 can secure sufficient power, financing and customers to move beyond the first modular phase towards its stated long-term ambition. The council’s approval provides planning permission for the current proposal, but it does not guarantee the 1GW scale or the 400,000-GPU capacity described in later company and industry reports.