One of Wales’s two AI Growth Zones sits across Anglesey and Gwynedd. The other stretches along the M4 corridor from Newport to Bridgend. When the UK Government announced both in November 2025, it said they would bring thousands of jobs, billions of pounds of private investment and more than a gigawatt of computing power. Nearly a year on, we have found no official progress report for either Welsh zone. Here is every commitment made so far with a figure or a date, and where each one stands.
Both zones remain on the UK Government’s books
The UK Government announced the North Wales zone on 13 November 2025, with “a base at Prosperity Parc on Anglesey and another at Trawsfynydd in the heart of Gwynedd”, led by a consortium including Stena Line, Isle of Anglesey County Council and Bangor University. The South Wales zone followed on 20 November, “stretching along the M4 corridor from Newport to Bridgend” and including the former Ford engine plant at Bridgend, with Vantage Data Centers and Microsoft “joining forces with the government”.
Both zones are still listed in UK Government documents. In May, a Lords written answer named “Anglesey (North Wales); a South Wales Cluster (spanning from Newport to Bridgend)” among five announced zones. On Budget day, 28 October, HM Treasury’s new Data Centre Covenant said the government will “continue to deliver the five AI Growth Zones across England, Scotland and Wales”. A draft planning policy for data centres, published in October, names the sites in both zones at paragraph 58.
What was announced: jobs, money and power
Jobs. On the same day in November 2025, the UK Government and the Welsh Government issued different job forecasts for North Wales. The UK Government said the zone would create “A total of 3,450 jobs”, including temporary and construction roles. The previous Welsh Government said it “is predicted to create 1,200 jobs”. Neither government has explained the 2,250-job gap. We show both.
For the south, the UK Government said “£10 billion of investment will unlock at least 5,000 jobs”. The same release also says “more than 5,000 new jobs for local communities over the next decade”. Both are forecasts.
Money. The £10 billion is an expectation, not money spent. Senedd Research put it this way in July: “The UK Government expects £10 billion of investment in the South Wales AIGZ and up to £100 billion overall from all AIGZs”. The £100 billion is for the whole UK programme, not for Wales.
Neither government has explained the 2,250-job gap.
Each zone also has a small local fund. The North Wales release said “£5 million in support will also be set aside for each AI Growth Zone at a local level for business adoption and skills”. The South Wales release says “up to £5 million”. The UK Government’s plan for the zones, Delivering AI Growth Zones, says “up to an initial £5 million” per zone.
Power. The UK Government forecasts that the South Wales zone alone could harness over 1GW (1,000MW) of power by the early 2030s. To put that scale in perspective, Senedd Research says Wales as a whole had 154MW of data centre capacity in 2024.
What the zone plan does not offer Wales
The UK Government’s plan, Delivering AI Growth Zones, does not mention Wales. Its two main financial incentives set out nothing for Welsh sites:
- Cheaper electricity. From April 2027, “subject to legislative timetables”, the plan offers discounts on power bills for 500MW data centres that help cut costs on the power system: up to £24/MWh in Scotland, £16/MWh in Cumbria and £14/MWh in the North East.
- Business rate retention. Councils in England will keep 100% of business rate growth in AI Growth Zones for 25 years. Local government finance in Wales is devolved, and the plan sets out no equivalent for Welsh councils.
The plan says “the precise approach will be determined following consultation”. On 19 October, a minister described “proposals for electricity bill support” for data centres in the zones. No Welsh rate is set.
The Budget on 28 October named one zone, in Lanarkshire. The Budget document does not name either Welsh zone. It has two lines linked to Wales and AI. One is £2.5 million to expand the M-SParc science park on Anglesey, “subject to business case”. The other is £20 million, UK-wide, for AI hardware, “building on existing strengths in semiconductor clusters including South Wales”. Neither is described as Growth Zone funding.
South Wales since May
The main news has come from companies. On 13 August, Vantage Data Centers and Nebius announced an agreement to deploy AI computing at Vantage’s CWL1 campus in Newport. They called it “the first announced commercial capacity commitment in the South Wales AI Growth Zone”. Nebius “will lease high-density capacity at CWL1”.
CWL1 has been “Operational since 2010”, the release says. So this is new use of an existing campus, not a new building. The release gives no capacity, value or start date for the Newport deployment. Vantage says it “expects to deliver more than 1GW of AI-ready capacity across Newport, Bridgend and Bro Tathan”. It gives no date for that.
The release quotes the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy: “Today’s announcement marks an important milestone for the South Wales AI Growth Zone.”
Senedd Research says Microsoft’s planned Newport site will have around 200MW IT load, but plans for Vantage’s Bridgend site, CWL4, state that “only around 20% of the development will be operational before 2032 due to power availability”.
North Wales since May
The North Wales release said “Work is already underway to secure an investment partner”. It said construction would follow “once a deal has been confirmed, expected in the coming months”. It gave no date.
We have not found any public announcement of an investment partner.
Prosperity Parc has outline planning permission from Isle of Anglesey County Council (Anglesey planning register). No reserved matters application found on the public register as at 30 Oct 2026.
Senedd Research says Prosperity Parc “has a target capacity of 349 MW”. The outline application form describes the 349 megawatts as a “Battery Energy Storage System”, “Storage not generation”, not data centre capacity.
We have found no data centre proposal for Trawsfynydd. The previous Welsh Government said in November 2025 that the zone has “the potential to widen AI investment across the region, including at Trawsfynydd”.
Power is the other open question. National Grid says “it is essential that the strengthened connection is in place by 2030” on the Pentir to Trawsfynydd line. That is National Grid’s own target. A UK Government response on grid connections, published on 28 October by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, plans to set out how strategic projects will be chosen, “which may include projects located in AI Growth Zones”. It names no Welsh site.
The Welsh Government’s response
The current Welsh Government is building its own policy. On 30 September, the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy said it is developing “a strategic policy framework for data centres and AI compute infrastructure in Wales”. He said he would bring “a separate statement on this work in due course”. The 30 September statement does not mention the AI Growth Zones.
A Senedd written question tabled on 21 October asks: “What action is the Welsh Government taking to ensure that Welsh communities benefit from further UK investment in AI?” We will report the answer when it is published.
How we will track it
We track only commitments with an official figure or date. Status words describe what is public, nothing more. “No public update found” means we searched official and company sites up to 30 October 2026 and found nothing. It is not a finding of delay. We will update this page when any line changes, and show the date of each update.
| Commitment | Figure or date | Latest update | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Wales zone: Prosperity Parc and Trawsfynydd | Announced 13 Nov 2025 | 28 Oct 2026: named in the draft National Policy Statement | Announced; listed in UK Government documents |
| South Wales zone: Newport to Bridgend | Announced 20 Nov 2025 | 28 Oct 2026: named in the draft National Policy Statement | Announced; listed in UK Government documents |
| North Wales jobs | 3,450 (UK Government); 1,200 (previous Welsh Government) | No later official figure found | Two official forecasts |
| South Wales jobs | At least 5,000 over the next decade | No later official figure found | Forecast |
| South Wales investment | £10 billion (Senedd Research) | 13 Aug 2026: Vantage cites a “multi-billion-pound investment strategy”, no total | Expectation |
| South Wales capacity | Over 1GW by early 2030s | 13 Aug 2026: Vantage expects more than 1GW, no date | Forecast |
| South Wales investor | “Work is now underway to secure an investor” | 13 Aug 2026: Vantage and Nebius, first commercial capacity commitment | First commitment announced |
| North Wales investment partner | Deal “expected in the coming months”; no date given | None found to 30 Oct 2026 | No public announcement found |
| Local fund for adoption and skills | Up to £5 million per zone | No spending breakdown found | No public spending update found |
| Electricity discount | Up to £24, £16 and £14 per MWh for Scotland, Cumbria and the North East; from April 2027, subject to legislation | 19 Oct 2026: described as “proposals” | No Welsh rate published |
| Business rate retention | English councils, 25 years | None | England only |
| Grid priority for strategic projects | Selection plan to be published, 28 Oct 2026; no date | Same | Plan announced; no Welsh site named |
| Pentir to Trawsfynydd grid line | In place by 2030 (National Grid target) | October 2026 page | National Grid target |
| M-SParc expansion, Anglesey | £2.5 million, “subject to business case”, 28 Oct 2026 | Same | Announced |
| Prosperity Parc site | Outline planning permission | No reserved matters application found on the public register as at 30 Oct 2026 | Outline permission |
| Bridgend site (former Ford engine plant) | Named 20 Nov 2025 | Notice that development has commenced filed with the council on 25 May 2026; the register does not record what works have taken place. | Notice filed |
| Welsh Government data centre framework | No date given, 30 Sep 2026 | 21 Oct 2026: Senedd plenary | In development |
How to read the evidence: three competing interpretations of where Wales’s AI zones stand.