UK's Largest AI Supercomputer Delayed to Mid-2030s as 90MW Power Link Stalls

2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 24

Nscale’s Loughton, Essex datacentre will miss its planned 2027 launch and may not come online until the early to mid-2030s, despite being promoted by the government in 2025 as the UK’s largest sovereign AI facility.
90MW of requested capacity — roughly the power use of 315,000 homes — is not expected to be available in time, with UK Power Networks reportedly telling Nscale the grid cannot supply enough electricity before then.
Nscale said it remains committed, has cleared the site, and is exploring on-site generation and ways to speed up the connection process, while UKPN said many datacentres are waiting on wider transmission-network upgrades.
315 datacentres were queueing for grid connections in June, seeking 73GW of demand against Britain’s 45GW peak national demand, underscoring how power bottlenecks are slowing AI infrastructure buildouts.