Mace Construct signs agreement with clean infrastructure company PACE to advance sustainable AI data centres in the UK

Mace Construct, one of the UK’s top construction firms, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with clean infrastructure developer and investor, Pathfinder Clean Energy Limited (PACE). 

PACE has a portfolio of secured clean power able to supply 168MW of IT capacity. Power availability is expected to come online as early as 2027, and data capacity following from 2028.

The partnership will see Mace Construct engaged at the earliest stages of these projects – RIBA Stage 0: Strategic Definition to help determine each project's feasibility, viability and optimising design and build strategy. The agreement incentivises collaboration as each project progresses from initial conception through to execution. 

PACE expects the initial three sites to enter construction in 2026. These sites are strategically positioned in high-demand regions with secured grid capacity, specifically the Southeast, West Midlands and West of England. The sites are being developed to support ‘latency-sensitive’ applications such as high-performance computing and AI.

Once built, the facilities will be powered through ‘direct wire’ renewable power generation and energy storage from the outset, creating the foundation for scalable, energy-backed digital infrastructure.
   
Alister Grey, Managing Director for Technology & Manufacturing, Mace Construct, said: 
 
“We take pride in collaboration, providing construction expertise and early engagement, that allows us to optimise design and build outcomes, bringing best-in-class value to our clients. It’s great to use our decades of experience constructing some of the biggest and most complex data centres in Europe, to provide advice on these projects. I am confident that this will be a long-term successful partnership that will drive sustainability in an energy intensive sector”. 
 
Rob Denman, CEO of PACE Group, said: 
 
“Power and sovereignty are the defining challenges of the data centre industry today, and sites that can secure a fast and reliable energy connection, will be those that succeed. PACE Group has a portfolio of over 1.2GW of clean energy projects with near-term grid connections across the UK, and further assets internationally. 

By working with Mace Construct across these three lead sites, bringing over 168MW of clean-powered compute into operation, our combined capabilities position us as leaders in this emerging sector where clean energy and sustainable compute come together.

Through combining our experience in developing and constructing clean infrastructure and utilising Mace Construct’s industry-leading data centre experience, we will lay the foundation for the next generation of digital infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing in the UK.

This is an exciting time for PACE as we bring forward the urgent data centre capacity in the markets where it is needed most - UK and internationally”.