Data centers are throttling home building as infrastructure struggles to keep up with AI demands

• UK data center demand could rise from 10TWh to 71TWh between 2025-2050
• 100 more data centers are planned for the UK, half of which are near London
• Other European cities are also facing increased pressure

Rapid data center expansion is putting pressure on the grid in London, with electricity shortages delaying new housing developments, particularly in West regions like Hillingdon, Hounslow, and Ealing.

Already, some completed housing projects have been warned they may have to wait until as long as 2037 before they’re fully connected to the grid, per a new London report.

This comes as tech firms continue to expand energy-intensive data centers to deal with the growing demand for AI 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 10TWh energy in the UK, of the 319TWh total consumption, marking around 3%. However, data center electricity demand is expected to rise to as much as 71TWh between 2025 and 2050, putting additional strain on the grid.

In London however, 29 known data centers account for nearly one-fifth (18%) of the energy.

Today, the UK has around 450 data centers, but plans for a further 100 have already been established, with around half of them concentrated in and around London.

According to reports, the National Grid is 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 that data centers are having an impact on grids. Last year, Ireland’s data centers accounted for 21% of its entire electricity supply (per The Guardian) – more than all urban homes combined.

A separate Ember Energy report anticipates a 150% rise in data center electricity demand between 2024 and 2035 in Europe.

The statistics show that data centers consumed 33-42% of the electricity in Amsterdam, London, and Frankfurt - as well as much as 80% of Dublin’s supply.

Some recommendations include having a separate planning policy for data centers, requiring that campuses feed back to the community with schemed like heat-network recovery systems, and implement additional protective measure for low-income households.

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