For decades, critical power infrastructure has been assembled on site, with commissioning taking place alongside the wider construction programme. It’s a process that introduces unnecessary complexity, coordination challenges and delays. As demand for AI-ready data centres grows, the industry needs a more stable and predictable way to deliver power at scale.
AVK’s new Haydock facility is built on exactly that principle, treating data centre power as something to be assembled and tested prior to installation on site.
A facility designed around the product
Haydock, Europe’s first purpose-built PowerPod assembly centre, has been designed specifically for PowerPod production, allowing critical power systems to be integrated, tested and commissioned before arriving on site. It combines 140,000 sq ft of assembly space, enough to hold between 23 and 25 PowerPods at any one time, with most units measuring 18 metres long and 4.2 metres wide. Around this is a further 100,000 sq ft of external yard and storage, sized for large-scale equipment deliveries and finished goods, so that components can arrive, be staged and move through assembly without traditional constraints.
Scale means little without the handling capability to use it. A 64-tonne overhead crane lifts, positions and loads the heaviest components, including transformers and UPS systems, accurately and repeatably. This is work that cannot realistically be done by hand on a congested site. Running through the building, 383 linear metres of busbar provide high-power testing and flexible power routing, so units can be built up and proven under load in a controlled environment rather than during a live commissioning window. Every step completed here is a step taken off the critical path on site.
Testing before it leaves the building
The most valuable work at Haydock happens before a unit ships. Each PowerPod is fully integrated and tested in controlled factory conditions, rather than being tested for the first time on a busy construction site.
Generator integration is one of the most complex stages of any data centre build and one of the most common sources of delay. Resolving it through full-power testing at Haydock means issues are found and fixed before equipment reaches site, giving operators better quality, fewer surprises during commissioning and time back in the programme. Units are engineered for straightforward transport, keeping delivery simple and deployment fast.
Built around the client
Unlike many modular providers that build around their own equipment, AVK takes a technology-agnostic approach. Operators specify the UPS, switchgear and other critical components they prefer, and AVK engineers each PowerPod around those choices, so existing supplier relationships and maintenance strategies stay intact. It also lets operators choose suppliers based on lead time, which can make the difference in reaching an operational data centre sooner.
A PowerPod brings HV and LV switchgear, transformers, UPS, cooling, fire protection and communications together into a single coordinated power system. Built on AVK’s track record in generator solutions, it can tie directly into a complete, fully coordinated powertrain, with every subsystem aligned and controlled as one. For the operator, that means far fewer interfaces to manage and integrate on site, and one accountable partner rather than several.
Sustainability-integrated foundation
The facility is built to a high environmental standard too. Haydock has been designed in line with BREEAM, the world’s leading sustainability assessment framework for buildings, and is completing its post-construction review, with certification expected imminently.
On site, a 285-panel rooftop solar array, extensive natural-light glazing, EV charging, cycle facilities and a dedicated wildflower and no-mow area all form part of the design. For operators under growing pressure to account for embodied carbon and supply-chain sustainability, how and where their power infrastructure is built are increasingly part of the specification.
What it means for the industry
None of this works without the right people. Establishing the PowerPods division meant a significant expansion of AVK’s workforce, with a dedicated team that combines deep experience in modular power systems, supplier relationships and large-scale modular power delivery. Having completed Haydock in record time, they are already delivering live customer orders.
By industrialising the build and testing of critical power infrastructure, AVK is offering operators a faster, more predictable and higher-quality route to a live facility. As AI reshapes demand, the projects that move fastest will be the ones that stop treating power as something to assemble on site and start treating it as something delivered ready to run.
