The Guardian reported on 11 November that developers of AI datacentres in the US, UK and mainland Europe propose building 181GW of on-site gas-fired power capacity amid delays connecting to national grids, citing BloombergNEF research. That is almost four times Great Britain’s peak electricity demand.
BloombergNEF puts 90% of the planned on-site gas-fired stations in the US. It estimates that, if the projects go ahead, they would produce about 345 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year there. The research also predicts that AI datacentres’ electricity demand will almost quadruple to 2,354 terawatt-hours by 2035, equivalent to 7% of global demand.
Mark Daly, BloombergNEF’s head of datacentres and emerging tech, warned that developers might keep their gas plants running after grid connections become available, despite describing the plants as temporary. In the UK, proposed datacentres at Wapseys Wood in Buckinghamshire and Quest Park in Bedfordshire are seeking to build on-site gas-fired stations while they wait for grid connections.
