50 GW of datacenter demand queues up for UK grid access

"About 140 datacenters are in the queue to be connected to Britain's power grid, and their combined energy requirements are estimated to be more than the current peak electricity use for the entire country. It identified about 140 facilities, the majority of which are likely to receive a Gate 2 offer, which is a 'ready-to-connect' agreement, and these add up to a total of 50 GW of demand for electricity."

"Ofgem says that since November 2024, total contracted offers in the demand queue rose sharply from 41 GW to 125 GW by June 2025. It contrasts this with the peak electricity use in Britain on February 11 this year, which stood at 45 GW."

"The problem faced is that the demand queue is large and growing, and is said to contain a significant number of projects that are 'likely non-viable.' At the same time, viable projects are being held up because of the length of time needed for network or generation building. The document claims these issues are exacerbated because there are no mechanisms to prioritize strategically important demand projects."

Britain's electricity grid is experiencing a surge in connection requests, with 140 datacenters in the queue requiring approximately 50 GW of power—exceeding the nation's peak electricity demand of 45 GW. The demand connection queue has grown dramatically from 41 GW in November 2024 to 125 GW by June 2025. Ofgem, the energy regulator, identifies significant challenges including non-viable projects blocking viable ones and lack of prioritization mechanisms for strategically important projects. The UK government's AI Opportunities Action Plan promotes rapid datacenter development through AI Growth Zones with streamlined planning. While these datacenters are not expected to connect simultaneously due to early construction stages, their collective infrastructure requirements present substantial challenges for grid capacity and network expansion.

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