Work is underway on the UK’s new national supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh.The £750 million ($1bn) system will be housed in buildings that sit on the outskirts of Penicuik and Roslin in Midlothian, an area directly south of Edinburgh.According to the university, the supercomputer will be around 50 times more powerful than the country’s current national supercomputer, ARCHER2, also housed at the University of Edinburgh. Surplus heat generated by the system will be used to warm university buildings, with assessments planned to see if a district heating solution could be extended to local homes.While full details of the system’s expected specifications have yet to be shared, at London Tech Week earlier this month, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said around £400 million ($535.6m) will go towards “next-generation chips,” £150 million ($200.9m) of which will be used to buy next-generation inference chips. A further £250 million ($334.8m) will support the purchase of more specialized chips.The government said it wanted to “see British-designed chips form a crucial part of the system,” adding that a tender process for the system will launch soon.“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,” said Professor Mark Parsons, director of the EPCC and dean of Research Computing. “This marks a profound leap in compute power for the UK. The value of this supercomputer across our society is vast, and will aid a strong industry, a healthier economy, and a happier population.”