Plans have been submitted for a £16.5bn data centre at the site of a former nuclear plant in Dumfries and Galloway.
If approved, the centre, which is expected to run on green energy, will create 500 full-time jobs and have a minimum 30-year lifespan.
Situated on the grounds of the former Chapelcross nuclear plant, the planning application submitted by CX Tech Ltd has outlined a desire to start work on the project in 2027.
The UK-based infrastructure and development management company said the project was in line with attempts to redevelop the site.
Despite the much-needed jobs boost for the area, opponents have raised concerns over the visual impact, as well as the effect on local energy supplies and costs.
The Site was historically used as a Royal Air Force base until 1944, with limited minor operations continuing until 1952.
A wider site was then used for Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station which operated from 1959 and produced electricity until 2004.
The landmark cooling towers came down a few years later and de-fuelling of the nuclear reactors was completed in 2013.
The land is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority but sits outside of the former power station’s Nuclear Licensed Area.
Other buildings still on the site are not intended to be demolished until 2040 at the earliest with final site clearance expected by 2095.
A planning statement on behalf of the applicant said benefits of the scheme would include delivering “critical digital infrastructure” and “returning a nationally significant site to productive economic use”.
It said it would support up to 750 jobs during construction and about 540 once operational, plus hundreds of indirect posts.
Graeme Anderson, chief executive of CX Tech, said: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Dumfries and Galloway and for Scotland.
“Chapelcross has the potential to bring together our renewable energy strengths, digital infrastructure and high-value jobs in a way that few other sites can.
“We have an opportunity to seize that potential now, creating a new economic future for a site that has played an important role in Scotland’s energy story for generations.”
A local campaign has been launched against the plans, with the Scottish government expected to publish national guidance for local authorities on such projects within the next three months.
About 1,000 people signed a petition against the scheme claiming it could put strain on the energy grid and see household bills “rocket”.
It also raised fears that countryside views could be “obstructed and destroyed by the massive data centre and associated operations”.
Campaigners have described the “large scale industrialisation” of the area as “unacceptable”.
They also raised concerns about the loss of agricultural land and woodland.
Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) claims the data centre’s capacity, at 1000MW, was bigger than any data centre currently operating in the world.
It also insisted the majority of the scheme would be on greenfield rather than brownfield land.
Other concerns included air pollution, waste and climate impacts while questioning the employment claims.
APRS added that the energy needs of the centre would be equivalent to about 2.2 million households.
The proposed 1GW (1000MW) data centre development covers 57 hectares just north of the former nuclear site near Annan, Dumfries and Galloway.
NATS, the UK’s main air traffic controller has examined the proposal and confirmed that from a technical standpoint it does not conflict with their safeguarding criteria. On that criteria, it had no objection to the proposal.
Subject to planning approvals, phased construction is targeted to run from 2027 through 2035.
The developer has undertaken an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).