- UK data center demand could rise from 10TWh to 71TWh between 2025-2050
- 100 more data centers are planned for the UK, half of which are near London
- Other European cities are also facing increased pressure
Rapid data center expansion is putting pressure on the grid in London, where electricity shortages are delaying new housing developments, particularly in western regions such as Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing.
Already, some completed housing projects have been warned they may have to wait until 2037 to be fully connected to the grid, according to a new London report.
This comes as technology companies continue to expand energy-intensive data centers to cope with growing demand for AI and cloud services, both in the UK and internationally.
Data centers now have a measurable effect on homes
Data centers currently use less than 10TWh of energy in the UK, out of the total consumption of 319TWh, which is around 3%. However, data center electricity demand is expected to increase to as much as 71TWh between 2025 and 2050, putting further pressure on the grid.
In London, however, 29 known data centers account for almost a fifth (18%) of the energy.
Today, the UK has around 450 data centres, but plans for a further 100 have already been established, around half of which are concentrated in and around London.
According to reports, National Grid is working to add 7GW of power to West London by 2037, but businesses and data center operators claim this is too slow.
It is not just in the UK that data centers have an impact on the networks. Last year, Ireland’s data centers accounted for 21% of its entire electricity supply (per The Guardian) – more than all city dwellings combined.
A separate Ember Energy report predicts a 150% increase in data center electricity demand between 2024 and 2035 in Europe.
The statistics show that data centers consumed 33-42% of electricity in Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt – as well as as much as 80% of Dublin’s supply.
Some recommendations include having a separate planning policy for data centers, requiring campuses to feed back into the community with scheduled as heat network recovery systems, and implementing additional protection measures for low-income households.
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