A £3 billion ($3.8bn) 386MW data center campus could capture waste heat for potential use in a district heating system, developers claim.

Detailed plans for the Humber Tech Park, proposed for a greenfield site south of A160 in South Killingholme, near Grimsby, also show that heat generated at the facility would be used to help grow tomatoes.

A planning application for the site was submitted by developer Humber Tech Park Ltd to North Lincolnshire Council this week.

The company is seeking permission to build a three million sq ft (278,000 sqm) facility which will offer 386MW across three buildings. It says these will be suitable for “training AI systems,” though does not go into detail on the type of hardware on offer.

Alongside the data centers, a district heating unit could be constructed. This would be up to eight meters high, according to the application. In the planning documents, the developer states: “The development proposals could be designed in a way to capture and harness the heated air so that it could be used as part of a district heating network.

“This would be an additional but separate benefit for climate change and would assist in reducing carbon emissions in other ways.”

Data centers in West London are being used to heat up to 10,000 homes, and such schemes are relatively common in other parts of the world. However, there do not appear to be any district heating systems up and running in North Lincolnshire at present.

Elsewhere, the plans reveal that a 300,000 sq ft (27,000 sqm) greenhouse planned for the site will be used to grow tomatoes, and harness waste heat from the data center. This could generate up to £3.5 million ($4.43m) in sales each year, according to an impact report submitted with the application.

A new electricity substation would be built on the site to help handle its power requirements, the plan says.

The data center, plans for which were first revealed in March, is likely to cost between £2.2 billion ($2.78bn) and £3 billion ($3.8bn) to build, with up to 3,500 jobs created during the construction process.

While the application reveals little Humber Tech Park Ltd, one of the directors listed on Companies House is affiliated with developer Greystoke Land.

Greystoke had previously planned a large data center campus in Hertfordshire but saw its application to build in Green Belt land denied by councilors.