Google invests £800m in UK datacentre expansion

Tech giant continues commitment to UK with new Hertfordshire datacentre site

Tech giant Google has announced an £800m investment in a new datacentre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, as to support digital innovation across the UK.

The vendor has claimed the 33-acre site will create construction and technical jobs for the local community.

Once complete, this major investment will provide increased computing capacity to businesses nationwide, supporting AI development and ensuring reliable digital services for Google Cloud customers and users.

Aiming to be a pioneer in sustainability, Google has set itself an ambitious goal to run all its data centres and campuses entirely on carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030.

To support this, Google signed a 2022 deal with ENGIE for offshore wind power from Scotland's Moray West farm.

This 100MW agreement will add clean energy to the grid and put Google's UK operations on track for near 90 per cent carbon-free power by 2025, Google said.

The new Hertfordshire centre will also recover heat for local community use.

The datacentre investment is the latest in a series demonstrating Google's ongoing commitment to the UK - a key country for its business and a world leader in AI, tech and science.

Earlier last year, Google parent Alphabet marked 25 years since founding with strong cloud sales of $8.4bn.

CEO Sundar Pichai said AI and generative AI are spreading across Google's tech.

Pichai noted anniversaries for Search, Maps and Android, and said machine learning is now used in most products to improve helpfulness.

He also highlighted progress in large language models like LaMDA.