Data centres are critical for enterprises as they provide the necessary infrastructure to support business operations, data storage, and application hosting.
They enable businesses to manage large datasets, ensure data security, and provide reliable access to data and applications for users across the enterprise.
The UK is moving fast to build more data centres to support growing demand from cloud services, AI, and digital infrastructure. But with this growth comes increased energy usage, land and water use, as well as carbon emissions.
According to the House of Commons Library, data centres currently consume about 2.5% of the UK's electricity. Nonetheless, projections show this consumption could rise fourfold by 2030 under current growth. Unlike ordinary IT services, AI workloads are particularly power-intensive, especially during the training of large language models (LLMs). Electricity demand is only one part of the problem.
The UK's energy grid is under pressure, with limited spare capacity and regional bottlenecks. If new centres are connected in areas without adequate low-carbon power, operators may be forced to rely on fossil-fueled generation or diesel, undermining decarbonisation efforts.
Google has officially opened its $1bn (£740m) data centre project in Hertfordshire, which is part of a larger £5b investment in the UK.
Earlier in September 2025, The Guardian reported on planning application documents for Google's next UK data centre, located in Thurrock, Essex. This new facility will cover 128 acres and is expected to emit more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, which is comparable to the emissions produced by 500 short-haul flights each week.
In line with the trend of expanding data centres, Blackstone has also received approval for its "hyperscale project" in Northeast England. This initiative will span approximately 540,000m² and involve an investment of up to £10bn.
It will require significant energy and cooling resources, raising concerns among local grid operators and stakeholders. The Kao Data Centre in Manchester is set to become operational by 2026. It will cover an area of 25,900m² and represents a £350m investment. Notably, the centre will be completely powered by renewable energy, highlighting a positive trend where several planned sites are making clear commitments to sustainability.
Upcoming data centres are expected to be more than double the existing capacity in certain estimates. The UK Data Centre Portfolio Report in 2025 notes an existing capacity of 1.7GW, with the upcoming capacity reaching 4GW.
Such expansions demand large quantities of electricity, cooling, and infrastructure. Some projects, such as the Kao Data Centre, commit to using renewable energy, which is helpful. But for many others, the scale of demand raises questions: will the grid be able to supply low-carbon power reliably?
The UK's renewable capacity is growing, but not quickly enough to match both rising demand from electrification of transport and heating and the additional burden from these centres. If renewable energy deployment falls behind, data centre demand risks being met by fossil fuels.
If data centre expansion proceeds unchecked, it risks overwhelming the grid, straining resources, and undermining the net-zero transition. But if expansion is tightly coupled with clean power investment, efficiency standards, heat recovery, transparency, and community integration, data centres could grow without derailing climate commitments.
The success depends not only on the actions themselves but also on the sequencing: new clean energy must come before large new facilities draw on the grid, and reporting and planning frameworks must be in place before construction begins. With careful governance, the digitalisation of the future can be built without sacrificing the UK's net-zero goals.