Lerwick (right)  is to be the location for the UK’s most northerly £12m data centre as Shetland Islands Council and developer Alchemy Plus unveil plans to build a high tech computing facility powered entirely by renewable energy and using a powerful high-speed fibre optic telecommunication link.

The Highland Council has given planning consent for Alchemy Plus's Inverness harbour data centre facility. The company is also close to formally securing a further development site in Aberdeen to harness growing demand and opportunity within the oil and gas community.

Alchemy Plus, the developer behind a ground-breaking environmentally friendly ‘cloud computing’ centre, to be built at Inverness Harbour later this year, has signed an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding with Shetland Islands Council to develop the 10,000sq.ft. data centre, which it says will be one of the most energy efficient in the UK.

Two Lerwick sites, Black Hill Industrial Estate and Port Business Park, are currently being considered for the data centre location. Shetland's climate as one of the coolest and most stable in the UK will mean the data centre facility having one of the smallest ‘energy footprints’ in the world.

With carbon taxation regimes under development across Europe and beyond, minimisation of IT related carbon footprints is a growing concern for data centre customers. The Shetland data centre will offer corporate and public sector clients real advantages in reducing their carbon liabilities.

A Greenpeace report ‘Make IT Green’, identifies challenges for future data centres and urges developers and operators to switch to renewable energy sources. It is proposed that excess heat generated by the 4Mw data centre be fed in to Lerwick’s district heating scheme to allow it to expand and satisfy a backlog of demand.

Steve Chisholm,(left) CEO of Alchemy Plus stated "We are looking forward to working closely with Shetland Islands Council over coming months to progress this joint initiative and bring our plans to fruition.

"Rarely have I dealt with an organisation as focused on development and as progressive in its thinking as Shetland Islands Council and we feel extremely privileged that they have selected us as their preferred development partner for such a world class opportunity.

"While many existing and aspiring data centre operators make claims about the "green" credentials of their facilities I truly believe that the Shetland facility will be among the most environmentally sympathetic in the world. Without question this development puts Shetland on the world map for any client genuinely committed to protection of environment."

Feasibility work is currently being undertaken into heating scheme integration, as well as the possibility of delivering up to 10 Mbp ‘fibre to the premises’ (FTTP) to heating system subscribers to bring high speed connectivity to businesses and homes within the community.

Having recently secured a long term future for Shetland’s oil and gas industry, Shetland Islands Council is keen to see the island established as a credible player within the emerging digital economy, which both UK and Scottish Governments recognise as being fundamental to thriving communities, business growth and prosperity.

Data centre provision in the UK is almost at capacity and the requirement for modern top-end technology data centres is a major area of growth. It is proposed that the £12m project will act as a springboard to help further exploit Shetland’s leading position in wind energy, hydrogen technologies and community heating as well as providing the first large scale use for the (right)  SHEFA-2 high-speed fibre optic telecommunication link between the Northern Isles and the mainland of Scotland.

Once up and running, the data centre will provide only a handful of direct jobs, but that in turn could lead to hundreds more as businesses, home workers and other organisations choose to take advantage of the services it will offer.

Josie Simpson, chair of the council’s development committee said,
"Our long term ambitions for Shetland include the establishment and ongoing development of a new digital industry for the island and the collaboration with Alchemy Plus is a key milestone towards achieving this."

"This is a truly unique project further advancing Shetland’s leading position in wind and hydrogen energy and firmly establishing us as a world class player within the emerging digital economy," adds Neil Grant, head of economic development for Shetland Islands Council. "It is very satisfying to see such a multi-faceted project benefit from our past and ongoing commitment to delivering high capacity fibre optic internet connectivity, our innovative district heating scheme and our acclaimed local renewables expertise."

Peter Swanson, Alchemy Plus chair concludes: "This is good news for both parties. The net effect of such innovative energy management will be to ensure a highly cost effective offering - i.e. green and at less cost.

"As we migrate towards becoming a fully established data centres operator, issues such as energy conservation and carbon taxation are becoming major considerations for both operators and clients. This  will underpin the  establishment of a new global industry not just for the island, but as part of a multi-facility development, for the whole of the Highlands and Islands and the North East of Scotland."