Data centre operators are turning toward gas for electricity after delays in connecting to the UK’s National Grid
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More than 100 new data centres in the UK plan to burn gas to create electricity – with some potentially doing so permanently – raising serious concerns about the future of the UK’s climate targets.
Across the UK, there are currently an estimated 477 data centres, large warehouses full of supercomputers that run digital services from artificial intelligence to movie streaming and online banking.
According to British officials, these data centres moving to gas is an ‘inevitable’ consequence of an extended wait to connect to the National Grid – the UK’s electricity and gas network – and has led to increased requests for gas connections from data centre operators in the past two years. Such requests are equivalent to more than 15 terrawatt hours of energy each year, the same energy required to power London for almost five months.
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Already, many US data centres rely on electricity generated by burning gas, including Elon Musk’s AI company xAI, which has illegally operated at least 46 methane-powered generators despite health risks to nearby residents. The company began using the turbines without air permits requiring effective pollution controls, meaning they release toxic nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde into the atmosphere. Six public schools are within a 3.2-kilometre radius of these generators.
But it’s not just Musk’s company, xAI, which has data centres emitting vast swathes of pollution. In total, 11 US data centres – built for companies including xAI, Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI – will allegedly emit more carbon than the entire country of Morocco. These emissions will stem from off-grid gas generators built by data centre developers.
Now, concerns are being raised over the same situation occurring in the UK as developers turn to fossil fuels, and more data centres are being built. Such a move could make the UK’s climate goals more difficult to achieve, given that one target was for unabated gas – gas used for energy without stopping the carbon emissions it produces – to supply less than five per cent of electricity in the system.
But it’s not just the atmosphere that data centres can strain. They also require vast quantities of water to prevent overheating. A single large data centre can ‘drink’ up to five million gallons of water per day. Currently, most data centre owners do not share data on their water consumption. As more data centres are built, this may become information that must be shared.
In the coming years, almost 100 data centres are expected to be built in the UK –mostly in London and neighbouring counties. A further nine are planned in Wales, one in Scotland, five in Greater Manchester and several more in other parts of the UK. All of these data centres are mostly due to be completed by 2030, but the largest one – a £ 10 billion AI data centre near Newcastle – would begin construction in 2031.
