London grid crunch delays new housing amid datacenter boom

"Access to electricity has become a major source of delay for housebuilding in London, and datacenters are inevitably tied up in this, leading to calls for greater oversight of energy and construction planning so that they keep pace with demand. A report published on Monday by the London Assembly, the elected body that holds the mayor and their administration to account, highlights the increasing pressure on the UK capital's electricity grid."

"It points to the grid reaching full capacity in some areas of West London back in 2022, contributing to delays on new housing developments. This is an area where there is a concentration of datacenters, which were blamed for the problems, as The Register reported at the time. The Greater London Authority (GLA) worked with National Grid and regulator Ofgem to secure short-term fixes, and this enabled over 12,000 homes to be connected by early 2025, it says."

Access to electricity has become a major source of delay for housebuilding in London, with datacenters implicated in some areas. The grid reached full capacity in parts of West London in 2022, contributing to housing development delays. The Greater London Authority worked with National Grid and Ofgem to secure short-term fixes, enabling over 12,000 homes to be connected by early 2025. Capital electricity demand is projected to grow between 200 and 600 percent, creating a need for long-term strategic planning to avoid further constraints. A surge in AI-driven datacenter construction is increasing urgency, with multiple large campuses planned near the M25.

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