Xela Energy has received full planning permission for a 5MW solar farm that will deliver locally generated renewable electricity directly to IBM’s Hursley campus near Winchester. The project is the first of its kind in the UK to connect a data centre facility to a dedicated solar installation via a private-wire.
The solar farm, located on agricultural land only a short distance from the Hursley site, will directly supply the campus with traceable, renewable energy that is free from dependence on the UK’s oversubscribed electricity grid or government subsidies, making it a vital step for the industry towards national decarbonisation. The project will in turn reduce IBM’s load on the electricity grid, freeing up capacity for use elsewhere and improving the UK's overall energy security.
Xela Energy has an extensive pipeline of private-wire projects and is redefining how the UK’s largest energy users access clean, affordable power. As a solutions-driven Enterprise Independent Power Producer (EIPP), Xela takes a land-led, rather than consultancy-led approach, identifying and securing sites close to Large Power Users to provide dedicated private-wire energy solutions. Xela Energy then develops, builds, operates and fully funds each project, delivering traceable, cost-effective power directly to its customers.
The Hursley project, to be constructed in the coming months, will generate nearly 5 million kWh of energy annually, saving the equivalent of 46,000 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime or planting 60,000 trees. The project will lower the carbon footprint of IBM’s 27,000 square-foot data centre opened in 1977, as well as including landscaping and significant areas dedicated to Biodiversity Net Gain.
The project marks a bold step in Xela Energy’s efforts to help the country’s largest power users reduce their environmental impact at a time when data centre workloads are growing to meet the demands of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and other high-performance computing (HPC) activities.
Alexander Goodall, founder and CEO of Xela Energy, commented: “This project represents a major milestone in how large power users can decarbonise with certainty, speed and integrity. It’s a blueprint for how the UK can decarbonise its most energy-intensive industries at scale. If our energy is unsustainable, so is our existence. That’s why Xela Energy exists: to make clean, cost-effective power available directly at the point of use; without waiting for policy, grid reform or subsidies. Projects like this show we don’t have to choose between economic growth and environmental responsibility, it’s possible to have both.”
About Xela Energy
Xela Energy simplifies renewable energy procurement for large power users with a fully funded, turnkey solution that helps its customers focus on their core business while securing sustainable, resilient energy at scale. Xela Energy’s land-led development model accelerates the development process for its customers, and private-wire renewables deliver a business case driven by cost certainty and savings. This creates a defendable competitive advantage which allows Xela Energy’s customers to outperform their competitors.
Xela Energy’s mission is simple: if our energy is unsustainable, so is our existence. That’s why the company focuses on building real infrastructure, not just advising on it, to help its customers decarbonise, reduce costs, and secure long-term energy certainty.