SUB1, a next generation data centre developer, has been appointed to act in an advisory capacity for UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) data centre project at its Culham Campus in Oxfordshire.

In February this year, the government formalised plans for new AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) designed to create thousands of jobs and substantial investment in AI infrastructure development. The first AIGZ will be at UKAEA’s Culham Campus.

UKAEA is the UK’s national fusion energy research organisation with the mission to lead the delivery of sustainable fusion energy and maximise the scientific and economic benefit.

Among many initiatives, UKAEA, via its subsidiary UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS), is spearheading the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production – STEP – a programme to design and build the UK’s first prototype fusion energy power plant in West Burton, targeting net energy on the grid in the 2040s.

Environmental sustainability is one of the founding principles of SUB1, and I can think of nothing that would make a greater impact than leveraging AI to help make fusion energy an abundant and sustainable source of power for future generations.

As part of this programme, UKAEA and UKIFS will build a digital twin of STEP to help solve key fusion challenges virtually, which will require supercomputer performance supplemented by the latest AI technology. Therefore, the intention is to build a data centre with both commercial and research partitions within the Culham AIGZ, with the latter designed to tackle both fusion and net zero challenges.

Among many on-campus initiatives, UKAEA is building STEP – Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production – to develop fusion energy, scale it and deliver it as pace. As part of this, they are building a digital twin of STEP with the aim of solving the fusion challenges virtually, requiring supercomputer performance.

SUB1 will provide a range of advisory services to UKAEA, including advice on data centre requirements, power consumption, and industry engagement.

Dominic Rumsey, founder and chief executive officer of SUB1, stated: “I’m immensely proud that SUB1 has been selected for this prestigious project and it’s testament to the strength of our leadership team and its commercial expertise in the UK data centre sector. Environmental sustainability is one of the founding principles of SUB1, and I can think of nothing that would make a greater impact than leveraging AI to help make fusion energy an abundant and sustainable source of power for future generations. It is also fantastic to see the public and private sectors collaborating in this way and I look forward to working with both UKAEA and the government to ensure the commercial success of the data centre as part of the Culham AI Growth Zone.”

In response, Dr. Joe Milnes, executive director for computing and engineering at UKAEA, said: “AI and high-performance computing are central to UKAEA’s mission to lead the delivery of sustainable fusion energy. UKAEA is pleased to appoint SUB1 as our consultant, to help us build a world-leading data centre and supercomputer to support the UK’s fusion mission. ”

About SUB1

SUB1 is a new class of data centre developer. We search brownfield sites for existing buildings in locations with power availability that are suitable for converting to data centres in the 1MW to 20MW range for mid-size facilities and 50-100MW+ for large data centres. SUB1 handles the change of use and planning permissions for security, ventilation and outdoor plant, including all necessary designs. Our experts can fitout the data centre for you or we leave it to you. Crucially, we want you to be the beneficiary of the value we’ve helped you to create, so we offer the option for you to buy the new facility outright.

Media Enquiries