Construction work starts on £750m national supercomputer

Construction work has begun at the site of the UK’s new £750 million national supercomputer which will be around 50 times more powerful than the current one.

Experts said the machine will provide a “profound leap in compute power for the UK” and will help make discoveries in fields such as extreme weather events, cancer drug research and aircraft engineering.

It will be hosted by the University of Edinburgh at a site near Penicuik in Midlothian and owned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The machine, which has been made possible by an investment of up to £750 million from the UK Government, will be around 50 times more powerful than the current national supercomputer, Archer2, which the university also houses.

It is expected to have thousands of the latest processors and will be able to carry out incredibly complex calculations in hours rather than days.

It will complete at least a billion-billion calculations per second, up from the 20 million-billion calculations per second the current national supercomputer delivers.

Professor Mark Parsons, director of the EPCC, the National Supercomputing Centre at the university, said: “You would never guess from this ordinary-looking building site just how vitally important it will be for the UK and how its contents could impact on all of our lives positively.

“This marks a profound leap in compute power for the UK. The value of this supercomputer across our society is vast, and will aid strong industry, a healthier economy and a happier population.”

The university said it was chosen as the new supercomputer’s home in recognition of EPCC’s leadership in high performance computing for more than 30 years.

It said work carried out by Archer2, which will be decommissioned, has included helping with Covid-19 drug-discovery and improving the efficiency of wind farms and aircraft engines.

The building for the new supercomputer will be around the size of a supermarket.

It is hoped construction work will be finished by the end of 2027 and the system will be ready to use by around the spring of 2028.

UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan said: “Today’s milestone in Edinburgh marks a decisive step in delivering our compute roadmap – building the sovereign computing power Britain needs to stay in control of its future in AI and science.

“For decades, Edinburgh has been at the heart of world-leading supercomputing. This new machine takes that further, making sure UK researchers, businesses and innovators have the cutting-edge power they need here in the UK, rather than relying on others.

“This is what will unlock the next generation of breakthroughs – from training more powerful AI systems to accelerating scientific discovery and creating new products and high-growth businesses.

“It is our industrial strategy in action, turning British ideas into the jobs and industries of the future.”

The construction work on the building is being carried out by Robertson Construction Central East.

Garth Wells, deputy executive chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council at UKRI, said: “The commencement of construction in Edinburgh marks a pivotal moment for the UK’s scientific infrastructure.

“We are providing the UK’s brightest minds with the ‘industrial-scale’ tools required to solve society’s most complex challenges, from decoding the next generation of life-saving medicines to engineering a net-zero future.

“This £750 million investment isn’t just about speed; it’s about economic growth, and ensuring the UK remains the premier destination for global innovation.”

The supercomputer has been designed to be more efficient than existing models, and surplus heat generated will be used to warm university buildings.

Experts said locating the computer in Scotland where the air is often cooler than elsewhere in the UK will also help with sustainability as this will help cool the system naturally, combined with cooling technology that reduces the energy needed.