Data centres to be expanded across UK as concerns mount

Some experts have warned it could drive up prices paid by consumers.

More than half of the new data centres would be in London and neighbouring counties.

Many are privately funded by US tech giants such as Google and Microsoft and major investment firms.

A further nine are planned in Wales, one in Scotland, five in Greater Manchester and a handful in other parts of the UK, the data shows.

While the new data centres are mostly due for completion by 2030, the biggest single one planned would come later - a £10bn AI data centre in Blyth, near Newcastle, for the American private investment and wealth management company Blackstone Group.

It would involve building 10 giant buildings covering 540,000 square metres - the size of several large shopping centres - on the site of the former Blyth Power Station.

Work is set to begin in 2031 and last for more than three years.

Microsoft is planning four new data centres in the UK at a total cost of £330m, with an estimated completion between 2027 and 2029 - two in the Leeds area, one near Newport in Wales, and a five-storey site in Acton, north-west London.

And Google is building a data centre in Hertfordshire, an investment worth £740m, which it says will use air to cool its servers rather than water.

There are also growing concerns about the environmental impact of these enormous buildings.

Many existing data centre plants require large quantities of water to prevent them from overheating - and most current owners do not share data about their water consumption.

Stephen Hone, chief executive of industry body the Data Centre Alliance, says "ensuring there is enough water and electricity powering data centres isn't something the industry can solve on its own".

But he insisted "data centres are fixated with becoming as sustainable as possible", such as through dry-cooling methods.

Such promises of future solutions have failed to appease some.

In Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, residents are objecting to the construction of a £3.8bn cloud and AI centre on greenbelt land, describing the area as the "lungs" of their home.

And in Dublin there is currently a moratorium on the building of any new data centres because of the strain existing ones have placed on Ireland's national electricity provider.

In 2023 they accounted for one fifth of the country's energy demand.

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