A huge datacentre project hailed by the UK government will miss its launch date next year and could be delayed into the mid-۲۰۳۰s.
The site in Loughton, Essex, was described as the country’s largest AI supercomputer when it was announced in ۲۰۲۵, but power supply problems mean it now faces a lengthy wait before coming online.
Doubts had already emerged about the scheme after the Guardian revealed in March that the planned location was still an operational scaffolding yard.
Now there are further concerns about the project due to its inability to obtain enough power before its planned ۲۰۲۷ debut. The Loughton supercomputer is being built by Nscale, a UK-based startup seeking a $۳۵bn (£۲۶bn) flotation this year.
UK Power Networks (UKPN), the company that will connect the site to the local power grid, has reportedly told Nscale the grid will not be able to supply sufficient power to the datacentre until the early to mid-۲۰۳۰s.
The power delay was first reported by Morning Intelligence, an AI industry newsletter.
Nscale said it was “committed to the project” but the failure tofind a quick fix to the power supply issue underlines how much energy has become a hinderance to datacentre development. The scaffolding yard site has now been cleared by Nscale, however. The company is also investigating whether it can generate power on-site and whether it can speed up the connection process.
Keir Starmer’s government cited the Loughton project when announcing the UK’s AI strategy in ۲۰۲۵, describing the site as the “largest UK sovereign AI datacentre”. Datacentres are the central nervous system of AI technology such as chatbots.
Ofgem, the energy industry regulator, has warned of a logjam in applications for electricity connections. In June, it revealed there were ۳۱۵ datacentres queueing to connect to the National Grid, representing ۷۳GW of demand – compared with the peak energy demand for the entire country of ۴۵GW.
The Loughton site is seeking up to ۹۰MW of capacity, equivalent to the energy consumption of about ۳۱۵,۰۰۰ homes.
UKPN said it could not comment on an individual project. Schemes with large energy demand also require work to be done at a National Grid level, in order to ensure that energy demands can be met properly.
“In general, many datacentres, whilst they will connect to our distribution network, are awaiting works on the wider national electricity transmission network before they can begin operation,” said a UKPN spokesperson.
National Grid said: “We’re continuing to work closely with NESO [the government-owned National Energy System Operator], distribution network operators and customers to identify opportunities to accelerate connections where possible and support economic growth.”
