The UK’s high-voltage transmission and distribution operator, National Grid, has acquired a plot of land in Teesside, in the north of England, to build a new substation to power a nearby data center.

According to reports from The Guardian and Sky News, the company inked the deal last week to acquire more than 70 acres of land in Dorman Point from Teesworks, a local public-private partnership. The substation is expected to provide up to 3.2GW of capacity, with Balfour Beatty and utility firm Steel River Power linked to delivering the power works.

In an emailed statement to MT Newswires, National Grid's head of land Matt Pearce said the land deal marks an "important step forward" in the new substation's development, which is part of the group's Great Grid Upgrade initiative.

"We are committed to working closely with our partners to progress the development as quickly as possible," he said.

The substation is expected to power an AI data center at the site of a former steel site in Teesside outside Middlesbrough. The site was selected last year as part of the UK government’s AI growth zone initiative, with the site described as the largest brownfield development in Europe.

According to earlier reporting, the site is expected to span 500,000 sqm (5.38 million sq ft). Teesworks is listed as the primary developer of the data center. According to reports, the site has attracted interest from major US data center developers, such as Google; however, a preferred operating/investment partner has not yet been finalized.

The site selection faced pushback from oil and gas giant BP, which argued the plan would hinder its attempts to build a hydrogen plant in the area. Despite the objections, the data center plan was approved last August. BP subsequently scrapped plans for the hydrogen project later that year.

The National Grid has announced or completed work on several substations to meet surging electricity demand from the data center sector. In November last year, the company commenced upgrade work at its Didcot substation in Oxfordshire to support data center growth in the region.

It also began construction at its Uxbridge Moor substation in Buckinghamshire, which is expected to supply electricity to more than 12 new data centers. The substation, which will be the largest in the UK when built, is expected to be completed by 2029.