Cardiff East Data Centre Park and Ride Wales UK Curtis Hall

Status: Proposed / Planning Hybrid Submitted (Welsh Government Holding Direction Active)   |   Location: Cardiff East Park & Ride, St Albans Road, Pentwyn / Llanrumney, Cardiff, Wales, UK

Project Overview

The Cardiff East Data Centre is a major proposed high-density digital infrastructure redevelopment planned at the former Cardiff East Park & Ride site on St Albans Road near the Pentwyn Interchange, Cardiff, Wales CF23 8HA, UK. Promoted by developer Curtis Hall Ltd, the controversial development is intended to transform an underutilized approximately 10-hectare park-and-ride site near the River Rhymney into a large-scale computing campus supporting sovereign artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other high-density digital workloads across South Wales. The project has been submitted through a multi-phased hybrid planning application under Cardiff Council Reference 26/00109/HYB and incorporates several interconnected elements intended to support both the data center development and wider local infrastructure. A central component is the proposed data center facility, which is designed to provide new computing capacity for the region's emerging digital and AI growth sector. To address the potential timing gap between construction and permanent electricity grid interconnection, the scheme also includes a temporary on-site natural gas generation plant intended to provide interim power capacity. Additional electrical resilience is planned through standby diesel generation units for backup operations and continuity of critical services. Beyond the digital infrastructure itself, the development includes a proposed new link road and bridge connecting Pentwyn with Llanrumney, creating additional transportation infrastructure associated with the wider redevelopment. The project has generated controversy and is currently subject to additional scrutiny under a Welsh Government holding direction, while ministers consider whether the application should be called in for direct determination. The proposed redevelopment therefore extends beyond a conventional data center project, combining large-scale digital infrastructure with temporary energy generation and significant transport works on a previously developed site. If approved and delivered, the Cardiff East Data Centre could contribute additional sovereign cloud and AI computing capacity to South Wales while supporting the region's broader technology infrastructure ambitions. At the same time, the proposal highlights the planning, power, environmental, and infrastructure challenges increasingly associated with high-density data center developments and the need to coordinate new computing facilities with local community and regional infrastructure requirements.

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