By Stuart Kerr
Published: 30 June 2025, 09:50 BST
The ghosts of Scotland's industrial past still whisper through the empty sheds of Ravenscraig. Three decades after the steelworks closed its gates for the last time, taking 1,200 jobs with it, this scarred stretch of North Lanarkshire is preparing for an unlikely second act. A £3.9 billion plan to build Britain's largest green-powered AI data centre on the derelict site promises to turn this symbol of industrial decline into a beacon of the digital age – but not everyone is convinced the future should be built on the ruins of failed promises.
When Edinburgh-based Apatura unveiled its vision for a 160-acre, 550-megawatt data complex last month, the numbers dazzled: 2,400 new jobs, a £729 million annual boost to Scotland's economy, and a chance to position the region at the forefront of the AI revolution. For local politicians like Motherwell MP Pamela Nash, it represented "the single biggest opportunity this community has seen since the steelworks closed." For 58-year-old former steelworker Jim O'Donnell, now driving a delivery van, the announcement stirred more complicated emotions. "They told us the same story when they knocked down the coke ovens," he says, leaning against his van outside the Ravenscraig retail park. "New jobs, new future. We're still waiting."
The Green Promise
What sets Apatura's project apart is its ambitious environmental credentials. By tapping into Scotland's abundant – and frequently wasted – renewable energy, the facility aims to avoid the dirty secret of the AI boom: its insatiable appetite for power. "We're sitting on a goldmine of stranded wind energy," explains Russell Wilkie of Ravenscraig Ltd, pointing to the towering turbines visible from the site. "Last year, we paid £1 billion just to switch off wind farms when the grid couldn't handle the supply. This project turns that waste into economic value."
The numbers support his case. With AI's electricity demands projected to double by 2028, according to National Grid estimates, the UK faces an impossible choice between technological progress and climate targets. Apatura's solution – locating power-hungry servers where the renewable energy is – has won surprising allies, including former critics of data centre expansion. "If we're going to have these energy vampires, better they're green vampires," says Dr. Karen Turner of Strathclyde University's energy policy unit, though she cautions that "even clean power at this scale comes with environmental costs."
A Community Divided
Not everyone shares the enthusiasm. In the neat new housing estates bordering the site, the arrival of what one resident called "a giant computer farm" has reignited old tensions. The Ravenscraig masterplan, painstakingly developed over a decade, promised schools, parks and affordable homes where the steel mill once stood. Now, with just 1,200 of 3,500 planned houses built, locals fear industrial rezoning will leave their community half-finished.
"It's not that we're against progress," insists primary school teacher Moira Henderson, whose living room window would overlook the new development. "But we were sold a vision of a proper town centre, good schools, places for our kids to play. Are we just supposed to swap that for watching Amazon's servers blink at us all night?"
Her concerns echo through the community Facebook groups and local council meetings where Apatura's promises of high-skilled jobs meet scepticism. With just one in five North Lanarkshire workers currently employed in technical roles, many question who will really benefit. "These aren't the jobs my members are trained for," says Unite shop steward Margaret Keenan, representing warehouse workers at the nearby retail park. "Unless they're planning to teach AI to stack pallets, this does nothing for people struggling right now."
The Skills Gap Challenge
Apatura acknowledges the hurdle. Their proposal includes training partnerships with local colleges and a pledge that 30% of construction jobs will go to North Lanarkshire residents. But with the first phase not due for completion until 2028, patience is wearing thin. "We've seen these 'future jobs' pledges before," says Keenan. "By the time the training's done, the tech's moved on and we're left with another generation trained for yesterday's jobs."
The tension reflects a national dilemma. As the UK government pours £14 billion into AI infrastructure through its Growth Zone initiative, the question of who will actually operate these facilities grows louder. "There's a dangerous assumption that building the hardware automatically creates a workforce to run it," warns Dr. Fiona McLean of Glasgow University's urban studies department. "Without serious investment in education and retraining, we're just building very expensive white elephants."
A Test Case for Britain's AI Ambitions
For the UK's technology chiefs, Ravenscraig represents more than just another development. With China and the US racing ahead in AI capacity, the pressure to deliver competitive infrastructure is intense. "Compute power is the new arms race," says Matt Clifford of the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency. "Facilities like this aren't optional – they're existential."
But as the diggers prepare to move onto the Ravenscraig site, the real test may be whether a project born of global technological competition can serve the very local needs of a community still healing from the last economic earthquake. For Jim O'Donnell, watching from his delivery van, the proof will be in the jobs that materialise. "They can call it AI, they can paint it green, they can say it's the future," he says, nodding toward the empty fields where the furnaces once roared. "But if in ten years it's just another fenced-off compound employing a handful of people from out of town, what's really changed?"
The answer may determine not just the fate of Ravenscraig, but of dozens of post-industrial communities hoping technology can deliver what heavy industry could not. As the UK bets its economic future on AI, this corner of Scotland is about to become the nation's most watched experiment in whether that gamble can pay off for everyone – or just the usual few.
Stuart Kerr is a technology journalist and founder of Live AI Wire. Follow him on X (@liveaiwire) or contact liveaiwire@gmail.com.
