Phase 1 - Silicon Sands Campus

Blackpool Council is a unitary local authority providing public services to approximately 141,000 residents across 21 wards, making up the Borough of Blackpool. Blackpool Council is procuring a third-party concessionaire to: (i) invest, develop and operate a 6MVA exemplar data centre (together with ancillary office accommodation); and (ii) to connect the heat generated from the data centre to a proposed local heat network within the Silicon Sands site at the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone. Blackpool Council believes that by enabling the development of new digital infrastructure, major economic and social benefits can accrue, bringing significant skilled employment and educational opportunities for the local population and encouraging inward investment and growth in high-tech companies, including start-ups operating in AI systems, making Blackpool competitive in the digital economy. Blackpool Council is procuring a concessions contract for the purposes of section 3(4) and section 8 of the Procurement Act 2023. The term of the concessions contract will be 3 years (from June 2026), and the land will be made available on a 250 yearlong lease.