Nscale’s UK AI Data Center Faces Years-Long Power Delay Beyond 2027 Target

A British AI data center intended to open in 2027 may have to wait years longer for enough electricity. Nscale’s planned site in Loughton, Essex, faces a reported grid-power timetable stretching into the early to mid-2030s. The UK government cited the project in its 2025 AI strategy as the country’s largest sovereign AI data center.

The connection behind the delay

UK Power Networks, which would connect the site to the local grid, reportedly told Nscale that sufficient power may not be available until the early to mid-2030s. That estimate is not a confirmed opening date, but it puts the planned 2027 start in doubt.

UK Power Networks declined to discuss the individual project. Its spokesperson said many data centers connecting through local distribution networks are waiting for work on the wider national transmission network before they can operate. A local connection can depend on upgrades farther away.

A cleared site, but no quick power fix

The project had faced questions before the power delay emerged. When The Guardian examined the planned location in March, it was still an operating scaffolding yard. Nscale has since cleared the site. That removes one visible obstacle, but not the need for electricity to run the facility.

Nscale says it remains committed to Loughton and is investigating whether it can generate power on-site or bring forward its grid connection. Neither option comes with an announced replacement timetable. Whether either can supply enough power materially sooner remains the immediate question for the project.

A queue much larger than this site

Loughton is one applicant in a crowded system. Ofgem said in June that 315 data centers were waiting for electricity connections, with requests totaling 73 gigawatts. The Guardian compared that figure with the UK’s peak demand of 45 gigawatts. The queue measures requested capacity, not power those projects are already using.

The government has identified long waits to build network infrastructure and an overloaded connections process as barriers to data centers and other projects. It says speculative applications can also hold up viable schemes. Those are system-wide problems; UK Power Networks has not identified the precise network work behind Loughton’s reported wait.

Can priority change the date?

In a March consultation, the government proposed reserving future grid capacity for strategically important projects and reallocating capacity freed when others leave the queue. It named AI Growth Zones among the projects that could benefit. The proposals address who gets access to scarce capacity; they do not establish that Loughton qualifies or that its connection date will change.

Priority would not necessarily remove a physical bottleneck: UK Power Networks says some locally connected data centers still need work on the national transmission system. Nscale needs a workable supply plan or an earlier connection date to bring Loughton online ahead of the reported grid estimate.