A panel of experts explore why grid capacity, connection queues, and rising AI power density are starting to dictate what can be built in 2026 – and where.

The UK’s data centre boom is accelerating, fuelled by the AI gold rush. Hyperscalers are expanding campuses and investment continues to flow, but the practical limits of growth are becoming harder to ignore.

Data centres already account for around 2.5% of the UK’s electricity consumption, and with AI workloads accelerating, that could rise sharply. Power availability, grid connection delays, planning constraints and sustainability pressures are no longer background considerations. As 2026 approaches, they are actively shaping what can be built, where, and how.

Power limits are no longer theoretical

For years, efficiency improvements helped offset rising demand, but that buffer is tiring quickly as AI is pushing power density beyond what many facilities were designed to support.

Skip Levens, Quantum’s Product Leader and AI Strategist, the LTO Program, sees a clear roadblock ahead. “In 2026, AI and HPC data centre buildouts will hit a non-negotiable limit: they cannot get more power into their data centres. Build-outs and expansions are on hold and power-hungry GPU-dense servers are forcing organisations to make hard choices.”

He suggests that modern tape libraries could be the solution to two pressing problems, “First by returning as much as 75% of power to the power budget to ’spend’ on GPUs and servers, while also keeping massive data sets nearby on highly efficient and reliable tape technology.”

Whether or not operators adopt that specific approach, the wider point holds. Growth is no longer just about adding capacity – it’s about how power is allocated and conserved within fixed limits.

Sustainability under pressure

Sustainability remains a defining theme for the sector, but the pace of AI-driven expansion is testing how deeply those commitments are embedded.

Terry Storrar, Managing Director at Leaseweb UK, describes the balancing act many operators are facing, “Sustainability is still the number one topic in the data centre industry. This has to work for the planet, but also from an economic perspective.

“We can’t keep running huge workloads and adding these to the grid,” he warns, “it’s simply not sustainable for the long term. So, there is huge investment into how we make technology do more for less. In the data centre industry, this translates into achieving significant power efficiencies.”

Mark Skelton, Chief Technology Officer at Node4, agrees, warning, “Data centres already consume around 2% of national power, while unchecked growth could push that to 10-15%, at a time when the grid is already strained and struggling to keep pace with soaring demand. In some areas, new developments are being delayed simply because the grid cannot deliver the required capacity quickly enough.”

To put this into perspective, Google’s new Essex facility alone is estimated to emit the same amount of carbon as 500 short-haul flights every year.

Grid delays, planning and skills gaps

There’s also a broader question of how well prepared the UK actually is for such a rapid scale-up in data centre infrastructure,

“Currently, the rush to build is overshadowing the need for a comprehensive approach that considers how facilities draw power and utilise water, as well as how their waste heat could be repurposed for nearby housing or industry,” Node4’s Skelton continues. “The technology to do this already exists, but adoption remains limited because there is little incentive or regulation to encourage it.”

In the UK, high-capacity grid connections can take over a year to secure, while planning delays and local opposition add further friction. Another roadblock is that “communities will increasingly challenge data centre expansion over water and energy use,” warns Curt Geeting, Acoustic Imaging Product Manager at Fluke. This is “pushing operators toward self-contained microgrids, hydrogen fuel cells, and other alternative power sources. Meanwhile, a growing shortage of skilled technicians and electricians will become a defining constraint.”

Geeting believes automation and I will be key to tackling some of these infrastructure roadblocks. “The data centre test and measurement market will enter 2026 on the brink of a major transformation driven by speed, density, and intelligence. Multi-fibre connectivity will expand rapidly to meet the bandwidth demands of AI-driven workloads, edge computing, and cloud-scale growth.

“Very small form factor connectors, multi-core fibre, and even air-core fibre technologies will begin reshaping how data moves through high-density environments – enabling faster transmission with lower latency. At the same time, automation and AI will take centre stage in testing and diagnostics, as intelligent tools and software platforms automate calibration tracking, compliance verification, and predictive maintenance across vast, complex facilities.”

Edge, sovereignty and a rethink of scale

Data centres remain the backbone of the digital economy, underpinning everything from cloud services to AI and edge computing. With the rapid rise in AI, there are concerns that the UK will struggle to keep pace.

“The AWS outage reminded everyone how risky it is to depend too heavily on centralised cloud infrastructure,” urges Bruce Kornfeld, Chief Product Officer at StorMagic. “When a single technical issue can disrupt entire operations at a massive scale, CIOs are realising that stability requires balance.

“In 2026, more organisations will move toward proven on-premises hyperconverged infrastructure for mission-critical applications at the edge. This approach integrates cloud connectivity to simplify operations, strengthen uptime and deliver consistent performance across all environments. AI will continue to accelerate this shift.”

“The year ahead will favour a shift toward simplicity, uptime and management,” he adds. “The organisations that succeed will be those that figure out how to avoid downtime with simple and reliable on-prem infrastructure to run local applications. These winners understand that chasing scale for its own sake does nothing but put them in a vulnerable position.” This redistribution may ease pressure on hyperscale campuses.

Looking to 2026

Looking ahead to 2026, the pressures facing UK data centres are unlikely to ease. Power constraints, grid delays and sustainability expectations are becoming long-term issues, not just temporary obstacles. While technologies like quantum computing may eventually reshape infrastructure design, they won’t resolve the immediate challenges operators face today. The UK still has an opportunity to lead in AI and digital infrastructure, but only if growth is planned with constraint in mind. Without clearer coordination, incentives and accountability, the rush to build risks locking inefficiencies into the system for years to come. 

This article is part of our DCR Predicts 2026 series. Check back every day this week for a new prediction, as we count down the final days of January.