London, United Kingdom, 18th November, 2025 - Downing Renewable Developments (DRD), a subsidiary of Downing, has announced its first, pioneering project in the data centre sector, with a landmark agreement to develop, build and operate a 40MW solar photovoltaic (PV) farm for Kao Data - the specialist developer and operator of data centres engineered for AI and advanced computing.
The Green Data Solar Farm project will supply Kao Data’s award-winning data centre campus in Harlow with up to 40 megawatts (MW) of solar-generated electricity. This initiative represents a significant step in Kao Data’s strategy, supporting its commitment to reducing carbon emissions and enhancing energy resilience through verified renewable sources.
The private wire renewable energy project is also anticipated to be one of the first, ground-mounted solar PV systems supplying a UK colocation data centre campus, directly powering Kao Data’s industrial-scale infrastructure via solar array.
Kao Data will procure the electricity via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), securing long-term, dedicated access to this renewable energy source. The innovative partnership will also play an important role in further decarbonising data centre operations, supporting Kao Data’s target to become fully net zero by 2030.
Crucially, the agreement to build the Green Data Solar Farm comes at a pivotal moment as the UK continues to grapple with systemic energy challenges alongside accelerated demand for renewable power.
Today the country faces some of the highest energy prices in the world, alongside grid connection delays of up to 15 years in key regions. To overcome the challenge of high energy prices, data centre operators like Kao Data, who are part of one of the UK economy’s fastest-growing sectors, are beginning to take proactive action - bridging the gap to provide innovative solutions to energy availability and security.
Groundbreaking renewable energy collaborations such as this between DRD and Kao Data demonstrate how the private sector can work hand-in-hand with local authorities to help deliver the technological and economic ambitions set out in the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, while helping alleviate grid constraints.
Furthermore, the Green Data Solar Farm exemplifies how private wire renewable energy systems can catalyse the UK’s green transition with renewable power provision being under-written by long-term data centre capacity. This approach also encourages operators to move to a prosumer model whereby they generate their own renewable energy, secure long-term low power costs and reduce demand on the grid.
Tony Gannon, Head of Downing Renewable Developments said: “The agreement with Kao Data reflects the growing importance of integrated clean energy solutions in digital infrastructure. With a strong track record in renewable energy deployment and a UK pipeline exceeding 6GW, Downing is well positioned to support the evolving energy needs of mission critical assets such as data centres. This is a significant milestone for Downing as it’s our first project with a data centre operator in a sector which is growing rapidly and driving future energy demand.”
“Energy availability, power pricing and grid delays continue to be three of the leading challenges for UK data centre operators, and without decisive action and innovation, our country could lose pace in the AI race,” said Mathew Harris, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Kao Data. “Our collaboration with DRD demonstrates how companies like Kao Data can take proactive action to solve some of the UK’s renewable energy challenges directly, and deliver green power at-pace and scale, to exactly where it’s needed.”
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