海角视频

First-of-its-kind report for London鈥檚 data centre planning evaluates energy, water, land use and digital infrastructure.

海角视频 has developed a pioneering infrastructure evidence base for the Greater London Authority (GLA), helping London take a more coordinated approach to managing future data centre growth across the capital. The report will be used to develop City Hall鈥檚 , which is now out for consultation, to support the capital鈥檚 long-term planning across energy, water, land use and digital infrastructure systems, creating a shared evidence base for sustainable growth.

Commissioned by the GLA, unveils a new methodology for forecasting data centre growth and assessing its impact on the infrastructure that underpins London’s economy. The study forms part of the evidence base supporting London鈥檚 planning framework for data centres and future updates to the London Infrastructure Framework.

As demand for AI and cloud computing accelerates, the report finds London faces unprecedented pressure on supporting infrastructure. The report鈥檚 headline findings describe the scope of opportunity in the industry, while identifying the challenges in operational energy capacity for data centres:

• While operational capacity is currently around 1GW, grid connection data shows demand increasing ten-fold (by 8GW-11GW) by 2050, with around ten times today’s capacity already represented in electricity connection queues.
• Energy is the most critical constraint on future development with grid connection queues averaging 7-13 years in London, compared to 3-7 for other European cities.
• London already hosts around 80% of the UK鈥檚 total data centre capacity, anchoring a sector estimated at 拢4.7 billion GVA today with a further 拢44 billion potential by 2035.
• UK AI鈥憆elated compute energy use is projected to soar from about 5 TWh per year today to more than 100 TWh by 2030 鈥� equivalent to roughly a quarter of the UK鈥檚 2021 electricity consumption.
• Data centre growth should be part of coordinated system-by-system planning, rather than site by site, to ensure energy, water, land and connectivity requirements are aligned.

Despite these challenges, the report finds that London holds a unique position as Europe’s leading data centre market and a critical hub for cloud computing, AI and international connectivity.

Digital infrastructure has become fundamental to economic growth, and this report gives London a guide to prepare for the infrastructure challenges and opportunities ahead.

Yalena Coleman, Director , 海角视频

Yalena Coleman, Director at 海角视频, said: “Digital infrastructure has become fundamental to economic growth. Yet until now, there has been no comprehensive way of understanding how data centre demand will evolve across London and what that means for the underlying infrastructure systems as well as other potentially competing priorities. This project combines different data sources with new forecasting methodologies to create an evidence base that supports better long-term decision-making. Our hope is that this report will give London a guide to prepare for the infrastructure challenges and opportunities ahead, and act as a blueprint for other cities to replicate.”

About the Methodology

The evidence base was created through a combination of planning data, utility information, market intelligence, spatial analysis and infrastructure modelling. The study also developed a new spatial intelligence framework, bringing together public and private sector datasets to create one of the most comprehensive pictures of London’s existing and future data centre landscape.

Beyond forecasting demand, the project provides a toolkit for more integrated infrastructure planning, helping policymakers, utilities and industry work from a shared evidence base when making long-term investment decisions. Alongside the next and the 2026 London Infrastructure Framework, the evidence base will help inform wider strategic planning initiatives across the capital such as Local Area Energy Plans. By using one evidence framework across these planning initiatives, there will be coordinated and aligned cross-sector decision-making.

The framework developed through the project has potential applications beyond London, providing a model that other cities can adapt to assess future digital infrastructure requirements as demand for data centres grows globally.

To read the full report, visit