20 November 2025
Downing Renewable Developments (DRD), a subsidiary of Downing, has announced its inaugural project in the data centre sector, signing a landmark agreement to develop, construct, and operate a 40MW solar photovoltaic (PV) farm for Kao Data.
The Green Data Solar Farm will supply Kao Data’s acclaimed data centre campus in Harlow with up to 40 megawatts of clean, solar-generated electricity. This initiative marks a pivotal step in Kao Data’s sustainability strategy, reinforcing its commitment to reducing carbon emissions and boosting energy resilience through verified renewable sources. The project is set to be one of the UK’s first ground-mounted, private wire solar PV systems directly powering a colocation data centre, providing a dedicated renewable energy supply through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
This collaboration aims to further decarbonize data centre operations and align with Kao Data’s goal to achieve full net-zero status by 2030. As the UK faces systemic energy challenges, including soaring energy prices and long grid connection delays, proactive measures like this renewable energy project exemplify how the private sector is stepping in to address energy security and sustainability.
The Green Data Solar Farm also demonstrates how private wire renewable systems can accelerate the UK’s green transition by linking renewable power directly to critical infrastructure, encouraging a prosumer model where operators generate their own renewable energy, secure low-cost, long-term power, and reduce dependency on the national grid.
“The agreement with Kao Data reflects the growing importance of integrated clean energy solutions in digital infrastructure. With a UK pipeline exceeding 6GW, Downing is well positioned to support the evolving energy needs of critical assets like data centres. This is a major step for us, marking our first project with a data centre operator in a sector that is rapidly expanding and demanding more energy,” said Tony Gannon, Head of Downing Renewable Developments.
“Energy availability, power pricing, and grid delays are some of the biggest challenges for UK data centre operators. Our partnership with DRD shows how proactive companies can directly help solve the country’s renewable energy issues and deliver green power at scale exactly where it’s needed, supporting the UK’s AI and digital ambitions,” said Mathew Harris, CFO of Kao Data.
