• Clearstone seeking partner to support delivery of AI data centre project once it reaches construction readiness
• Site expected to come online at a location on the outskirts of London in early 2030s
• Based near battery storage project pulled from planning in 2025

Clearstone Energy is in live discussions with potential data centre operators as it seeks the right partner to help deliver a 300 MW AI data centre campus once it reaches construction readiness, project director Simon Rothwell told NPM.

The project is expected to carry a capex cost of GBP 4bn, which Clearstone Energy anticipates will be financed with the support of investors and debt providers.

Rothwell did not disclose further financial detail.

The recently announced data centre campus is proposed for a site near Dartford, on the borders of London and Kent. It spans 145 acres and is located near to both the HS1 railway line and A2 trunk road and is 2 km south of Ebbsfleet International train station.

The campus is designed to meet growing demand from data centre operators and their enterprise customers for AI-ready digital infrastructure in and around London.

The proposed location was selected due to its ability to provide the land, power, high-speed connectivity, and talent pool needed to deliver the next generation of AI-based applications.

Additionally, Rothwell noted that its position on the outskirts of London lends itself to low latency workloads.

He added: “We understand the local geography, power connections, and data centre market well and this site provides an excellent opportunity to deliver a critical digital infrastructure project in the near term.”

Clearstone is already having conversations in the market around hyperscale and AI workloads.

Following a directive from the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities given on July 1, 2026, the project will be treated as a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP), requiring a development consent order (DCO).

Clearstone applied for the directive in May 2026.

Rothwell said the decision to seek NSIP status was based on two main reasons.

Firstly, because of the scale and complexity of the project which was claimed makes it better suited to the detailed application and examination process offered by the NSIP regime. Secondly, a DCO application also provides the consenting timeline certainty that Clearstone needs to provide investor confidence.

Clearstone is targeting first operations in the early 2030s through a modular approach to delivering compute capacity, with infrastructure split across several buildings.

Towards meeting that goal, preliminary site surveys are already underway. The first round of public consultation will take place in the autumn through a series of co-design community workshops that will shape initial design work, which will be followed by a full public consultation on draft proposals in 2027.

To deliver the project, Clearstone is working with partners experienced in the data centre sector including Glenser, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, as well as infrastructure and engineering consultancy Aecom, data centre real estate specialists Pioneer DC, and additional consultants.

Formerly planned battery storage

The location of the data centre campus puts it near the previously planned Dartford Energy Hub, which was to be in Southfleet, Kent. It was slated to help balance the grid as energy needs are increasingly met with renewables.

However, Clearstone Energy pulled the project from planning last October ahead of the Dartford Borough Council’s vote. This followed a recommendation from officers to reject the application.

The project had been facing strong local opposition due to the use of land which was considered greenbelt.

Initially, Clearstone signified intent to resubmit the bid but Rothwell told NPM it decided against the initiative considering a significant excess of consented projects towards UK BESS targets.

News of the data centre triggered speculation that the projects had been intended as parts of a larger scheme, but Rothwell insists that they were always separate projects, highlighting separate sites and grid agreements.

Nevertheless, Clearstone is inclined to explore renewables generation and storage to supply energy to the data centre. Whether it is possible is uncertain as Rothwell highlights the need for digital infrastructure in the near term and the requirement of data centre investors for a firm N-1 grid connection.

It is expected that the data centre campus will be powered via a connection to the UK’s electricity transmission network, owned, and operated by National Grid.