Google considers Inverurie base
Internet giant Google is locked in talks which could lead to the creation of its first Scottish base in part of a closed north-east paper mill, the Press and Journal can reveal.
The company, regarded as the world’s biggest brand, is understood to be keen to create a data centre on the outskirts of Inverurie to help power its search engines.
It emerged last week that negotiations between the owner of the International Paper mill and an unnamed consortium were at an advanced stage and a deal could be signed within months.
It was disclosed only that the deal would pave the way for the creation of a multimillion-pound electricity generating plant and “an energy-efficient data centre” powered by it.
The industrial-scale data processing operation would be a guaranteed customer for much of the electricity produced by the neighbouring energy plant, with any surplus being sold to the national grid.
A source confirmed to the Press and Journal last night that Google was interested in occupying the data centre if the scheme went ahead, but stressed that nothing had been signed yet.
A spokeswoman for Google said it did not comment on speculation.
A feasibility study for the Inverurie site is under way and is expected to take four months.
All parties involved in a possible takeover of the site have signed a confidentiality agreement.
The study will reveal if the mill, which closed with the loss of 350 jobs in March, would be a suitable location for such a development.
According to US research, data centres consumed 152billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2005. This was about 1% of the world energy total, more than the annual consumption of Sweden.
For the internet to keep expanding there is a growing need for more major computer data centres, as well as the power to feed them. This has forced a drive towards “energy-efficient data centres” that use the power generated by green energy plants nearby.
The scheme would breathe new life into the mill site, which has been the one of the biggest north-east victims of the credit crunch so far.
First Minister Alex Salmond, who is MSP for Gordon and has fought to secure a future for the mill, said last night he could not comment on who was involved in the consortium. “I am fully informed of developments, but I am bound by confidentiality not to say,” he said.
There has been significant speculation surrounding Google setting up a base in Scotland in recent weeks after the company was reported to have filed a patent for boats packed with mainframe computer servers, which would be driven by electricity from wave power machines under development in Scotland.