A surge in AI-driven data centre development could significantly increase UK electricity demand and complicate efforts to hit clean power and emissions targets.

That’s according to a new report from The Times, which highlights how 140 data centres are currently seeking grid connections with a combined peak demand of 50GW. That figure is striking because it is higher than Britain’s recent peak electricity demand of 45GW, raising questions over how the additional load would be accommodated while the Government is also trying to decarbonise the grid and electrify more of the economy.

The reported figures, disclosed by Ofgem, point to a scale of potential demand that appears to be far above previous assumptions used in clean power planning. According to The Times, the proposed capacity is around five times higher than what had previously been assumed in Government planning tied to the UK’s 2030 clean power target.

That matters because the UK’s decarbonisation strategy depends not only on building more clean generation, but also on managing grid access and network upgrades at pace. If large data centre projects move forward quickly, they could intensify competition for grid connections at a time when renewable energy schemes and industrial electrification projects are already facing delays.

The issue is not simply whether every proposed data centre gets built. In practice, some projects in the connection queue will fall away. However, it’s believed that Ofgem considers a sizeable share of the pipeline to be relatively advanced, suggesting this is more than a purely speculative wave of applications.

The news comes at an awkward time, as data centres are already under the spotlight for their impact on the grid and the environment. While the UK Government, as well as the devolved Government in Scotland, appear to be onboard with growing the fleet of data centres built across the UK, projects are facing stiff local opposition due to the impact of those developments. 

A recent data centre project in Edinburgh was declined due to the fact its ‘green’ claims couldn’t be substantiated. There were also concerns with the project’s impact on the local power grid – with it consuming the equivalent energy of all the households of Edinburgh and Glasgow combined had it been built. 

That puts the data centre industry in an awkward position. If the UK wants to remain a leading country in AI development, it needs new data centres built, but those facilities won’t be built if they continue to face fierce local opposition. With those very same projects now looking like they could risk the UK’s net zero progress, it’s likely opposition will only grow. 

That leaves data centre developers with only one option – building facilities that reduce their impact on the environment and the grid. Rather than claiming to offer a ‘green’ data centre, like the one in Edinburgh, facilities will need to actually demonstrate how ‘green’ they are. That means using their own sources of power, and reducing the amount of energy they draw as much as possible. Going forward, it’s likely that those who choose that option will find a much easier path to completion, than those who refuse to put the work in.