UK's largest AI supercomputer stalls for lack of power until the 2030s
The flagship UK AI datacentre slips years because the grid cannot supply it, moving the bottleneck from chips to electricity.
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The Loughton datacentre the UK government called its "largest sovereign AI datacentre" will miss its planned 2027 launch: the grid operator has told developer Nscale the 90MW it needs will not be available until the early to mid-2030s.
The project is being built in Essex by UK startup Nscale, whose investors include Nvidia and which is preparing for a roughly £26bn listing. When Keir Starmer's government announced the UK AI strategy in 2025, it cited the site as a flagship; in March the Guardian revealed the location was still an operating scaffolding yard.
The delay is not unique. Regulator Ofgem disclosed in June that 315 datacentres were queueing to connect to the National Grid, representing 73GW of demand against a national peak capacity of 45GW.
Limits: UKPN would not comment on the individual project, and the delay timeline comes from reporting; Nscale says it remains committed and is investigating onsite generation and a faster connection.