- UK data center demand could rise from 10 TWh to 71 TWh between 2025 and 2050
- 100 more data centers are planned in the UK, half of which are near London
- Other European cities also face increased pressure
The rapid expansion of data centers is putting pressure on London’s network, with electricity shortages delaying new housing developments, particularly in western regions such as Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing.
Some completed housing projects have already been warned they may have to wait until 2037 before being fully connected to the grid, according to a new report from London.
This comes as technology companies continue to expand energy-intensive data centers to cope with growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud services, both in the UK and internationally.
Data centers are now having a measurable impact on housing
Data centers currently use less than 10 TWh of energy in the UK, of the total consumption of 319 TWh, which represents around 3%. However, data center electricity demand is expected to increase to 71 TWh between 2025 and 2050, putting additional 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 are already in place for another 100, of which around half are concentrated in and around London.
National Grid is reportedly working to add 7GW of power to west London by 2037, but businesses and data center operators argue this is too slow.
It’s not just in the UK where data centers are having an impact on networks. Last year, Ireland’s data centers accounted for 21% of its entire electricity supply (for the guardian) – more than all urban households combined.
A separate report from Ember Energy anticipates a 150% increase in data center electricity demand between 2024 and 2035 in Europe.
Statistics show that data centers consumed between 33 and 42% of the electricity in Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt, as well as up to 80% of Dublin’s supply.
Some recommendations include having a separate planning policy for data centers, requiring campuses to provide information to the community with similar heat network recovery systems and implement additional protection measures for low-income households.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
