Jon Healy, Managing Director, EMEA at Salute, warns that the UK’s dash to deploy AI-ready data centres risks undermining its ESG commitments if speed keeps trumping safety and sustainability.
Artificial intelligence is turbocharging the data centre industry. The International Energy Agency’s special report ‘Energy and AI’ projects that electricity demand from data centres worldwide is set to more than double by 2030 to around 945 TWh. To put it in perspective, that’s slightly more than the current total electricity consumption in Japan.
Scaling operations to this degree will inevitably put additional strain on the industry, and from multiple angles – data centre operators already see speed to market as one of their biggest macro challenges. The AI boom has triggered an overwhelming need for robust and scalable data centre infrastructure to meet the rising level of demand. However, this race to rapid data centre deployment raises operational, financial and sustainability risks.
We need more data centres to power the UK’s AI ambitions, yet the speed at which these infrastructures need to be built is putting such untold pressure on the industry that we’re arguably left teetering on the fine line between supercharging the country’s AI readiness and undermining its efforts altogether.
Data centres are critical infrastructure, which means rushing the design and build could do more harm than good. So where does that leave us?
The increasing strain on operations
In Europe, data centre energy use is forecast to grow exponentially, and AI is a major driver of this acceleration. There are already bottlenecks in the infrastructure required to support AI at scale. Grid capacity is constrained in many high-demand regions, including South East England and London. According to some providers, new connections won’t be accessible for another 10 years, and as a result, the UK’s potential to boost local computing capacity is restricted.
The development of new data centres is hampered by delays in planning and uncertainty about long-term energy availability. The UK runs the risk of turning into a net importer of computing power if these problems continue, thereby losing control and innovation to nations with more developed infrastructure plans. The UK cannot afford this reality if it hopes to maintain its global position.
To make matters worse, the industry has also long faced a shortage of skilled operators, and the AI boom has made it increasingly worse. Providers are struggling to ramp commissioning agents fast enough, and training cycles that normally take months are being compressed, undermining quality and increasing the risk of ill preparation. Staffing and recruitment now require not just finding people but also onboarding and training them within these impossible timescales.
The innovation vs sustainability battle continues
Legislation and investor demand mean operators must build green, but in EMEA especially, sustainability is often deprioritised in the short term because the market focus is on rapid AI capacity delivery.
Data centres already consume vast amounts of electricity, and as AI applications expand, the carbon footprint of the systems powering them will only increase. If we carry on with this trajectory – at the speed the market currently demands – without considering the environmental impact, this growth risks clashing with the UK’s climate goals and undermining its credibility as a leader in sustainable innovation. It’s an argument that’s being made increasingly now, but the ambition to be a leader in one area of global importance should not displace another.
Data centre operators are currently facing a two-fold problem of dealing with complex infrastructure while also trying to cut down on emissions. This friction is exacerbated by the fact the investment model is heavily influenced by ESG funds, but in practice, projects are often executed with speed as the top priority, creating tension between investor criteria and delivery risk.
Many operators are looking into options like modular construction, advanced cooling technologies and the use of renewable energy sources. Direct liquid cooling is a massive technology shift, but deploying it too fast carries safety and reliability risks; for example, leaks or improper handling can destroy millions in equipment or cause health & safety risks to untrained personnel. The industry is making huge strides in exciting areas of innovation like this, with some hyperscalers already pushing commissioning teams to validate new liquid cooling designs. But all of this is currently being done under severe time constraints, which brings its own, not insignificant risks.
Striking the right balance
We have to move fast. That part is not in question. But at what point do we risk overtaking the boundaries of safety and actually increase our risk of undermining national progress?
The path to AI readiness doesn’t require us to compromise on quality or safety. Instead, the current demand presents a unique opportunity for the UK to lead by demonstrating that speed can be achieved while building a robust, high-quality and secure data centre infrastructure.
