A new world-beating £100 million supercomputer is set to come to Exeter.
Business leaders believe a major upgrade to the Met Office's number-crunching systems will bring wider economic benefits to the city as well as enabling more accurate weather forecasts.
It is hoped the £97m investment will get final approval from the Treasury this autumn. And it has now been confirmed the cutting edge technology – up to 15 times more powerful than the Met Office's existing supercomputer – will be based in Exeter.
The new hardware – one of the biggest computers in Europe – could be partly based at Exeter Science Park as well as the Met Office's existing headquarters.
Dave Underwood, deputy director of the Met Office's high performance computing programme, said the investment would bring a "step change" in its computing capabilities.
This will enable the Met Office to run more sophisticated weather and climate models which would deliver an estimated £2 billion of economic benefits over five years by improving the UK's resilience to extreme weather events.
Potential uses of the enhanced forecasts include reducing travel disruption and improving food production.
The new supercomputer could lead to a small increase in the Met Office's 1,400-strong workforce in Exeter – but more importantly help to make the city a hub for weather and climate change research, in collaboration with the university and businesses.
Mr Underwood said an extensive search of potential sites for a new IT hall had concluded that Exeter Science Park was the best location.
Karime Hassan, chief executive and growth director of Exeter City Council, said: "It is difficult to overstate the significance of this investment in Exeter and the potential beneficial impact it will have in moving us into a knowledge based economy.
"It is another world class asset for the city. Exciting times ahead."
Derek Phillips, vice president of Exeter Chamber of Commerce, said: "It will be fantastic to have one of Europe's biggest computers here in Exeter, and hopefully an iconic building on the science park. We hope it will enable spin-off activities and encourage companies to relocate to Exeter."
Funding for the new supercomputer was provisionally allocated by the Government last year. Since then Met Office chiefs have been finalising the business case for the £97 million investment, which is seen as a strategic asset to strengthen the UK's science base.
In its strategic economic plan for 2014–2030, the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership has identified "securing investment in the Met office supercomputer in Exeter Science Park linked to the establishment of a Global Environmental Futures campus with Exeter University" as a potentially "transformational" opportunity for Devon and Somerset.
