The United Kingdom (UK) may face challenges in meeting its 2030 clean energy targets due to increasing electricity demand from data centers, according to a report by Aurora Energy Research.

The firm warns that the current pace of renewable energy growth may not be sufficient to meet the rising power needs.

Data centers currently account for 4% of the UK’s total power demand. This figure is expected to rise to as 10% by 2030.

This increase in demand could lead to greater reliance on natural gas, potentially hindering decarbonization efforts unless the expansion of grid and renewable infrastructure is accelerated.

The UK government has acknowledged the economic benefits of data centers while striving to meet its green energy commitments.

Balancing these objectives become challenging as the data center sector expands and energy needs grow.

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🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The UK’s grid infrastructure struggles have created a critical timing mismatch

Britain’s grid connection bottlenecks represent a long-standing structural issue that conflicts with data center development timelines.

Current connection backlogs affect over 600 renewable energy projects across the UK, with some facing waiting periods of up to a decade for grid access 1.

This infrastructure challenge directly undermines the government’s ability to rapidly scale renewable capacity, as even approved projects face years before they can actually deliver power.

The planning process itself compounds these delays, with approximately 63% of renewable project applications between 2018-2023 being abandoned, refused, or withdrawn before completion 1.

These systemic issues explain why Aurora Energy Research concludes that current renewable expansion rates cannot meet the accelerating data center demand, creating a mismatch between clean energy goals and practical realities.

2️⃣ AI-driven data center growth is creating unprecedented energy demand globally

The scale of power consumption growth from data centers represents a historic challenge for energy planning worldwide, not just in Britain.

Global data center electricity consumption is projected to increase by 160% by 2030, with AI workloads being a primary driver of this surge 2.

AI servers can consume up to 10.2 kW at peak load, dramatically increasing facility energy requirements compared to traditional computing infrastructure 2.

By 2026, AI data centers alone are anticipated to consume 90 TWh annually—equivalent to the energy needs of approximately 108,450 US households 3.

This exceptional growth trajectory helps explain why Aurora’s projection of data centers reaching 10% of UK power demand by 2030 (up from 4% currently) represents a significant shift in the country’s energy consumption patterns.

3️⃣ Britain’s continued reliance on natural gas reveals the renewable transition’s practical limitations

Despite significant progress in renewable adoption, natural gas remains a crucial component of the UK’s energy mix, reflecting the practical challenges of a complete transition.

As of 2024, gas still accounts for 25.9% of the UK’s electricity generation (72.6 TWh) and is responsible for approximately 80% of the electricity sector’s total carbon emissions 4.

This persistent dependence on gas partly explains Aurora’s conclusion that increased energy demand will likely be met through natural gas generation rather than renewables.

The UK’s renewable leader is wind power (29.4% of generation), but its intermittent nature means gas plants remain essential for providing the consistent 24/7 power that data centers require 4.

The gap between the UK’s ambitious goal to decarbonize its electricity grid by 2035 and the current pace of renewable deployment illustrates why meeting rising data center demand with clean energy remains a challenge.

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