- UK data center demand could increase from 10 TWh to 71 TWh between 2025 and 2050
- Another hundred data centers are planned in the UK, half of which will be near London
- Other European cities are also under increasing pressure
The rapid expansion of data centers is putting pressure on London’s electricity grid as power shortages slow the building of new homes, particularly in western areas such as Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing.
Some completed housing projects have already been warned they may have to wait until 2037 before they are fully connected to the electricity grid, according to a new report from London. editing.
This comes as technology companies continue to expand their energy-intensive data centers to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud services, both in the UK and internationally.
Data centers now have a measurable impact on residential construction
Currently, UK data centers use less than 10 TWh of energy out of a total consumption of 319 TWh, or around 3%. However, the demand for electricity in data centers is expected to reach 71 TWh between 2025 and 2050, further increasing the pressure on the electricity grid.
But in London, 29 known data centers produce almost a fifth (18%) of the energy.
Today there are around 450 data centers in the UK, but there are already plans to open another 100, with around half of them concentrated in and around London.
National Grid wants to add 7GW of electricity to west London by 2037, but businesses and data center operators say the process is too slow.
In the UK it is not right for data centers to affect networks. Last year, Irish data centers accounted for 21% of the country’s total electricity supply (equivalent to the guardian) – more than all city households combined.
A separate glow energy editing predicts that data center electricity demand in Europe will increase by 150% between 2024 and 2035.
Statistics show that data centers consume between 33 and 42% of the electricity in Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt, as well as 80% of the supply in Dublin.
Recommendations include introducing a separate planning policy for data centers, requiring campus sites to impact the community with systems such as heat recovery systems, and introducing additional protections for low-income families.