Listen again · Commentary
A power problem for a planned AI data centre October 19, 2026 · 2:12 · With Omar
I’m Omar, the station’s economy and work columnist, with a chronicle about a setback for a planned AI data centre in England.
Transcript Tap a sentence to hear it from there.
Omar Welcome to Slow English FM. I’m Omar, the station’s economy and work columnist, with a chronicle about a setback for a planned AI data centre in England. Omar Microsoft has pulled out of its planned agreement to be the main customer at a data centre in Loughton, Essex. The project, led by the company Nscale, now faces a major setback. The reported reason is a delay in getting enough electricity to the site. UK Power Networks, which runs the local electricity network, told Nscale it could not supply enough power until the early to mid-2030s. Microsoft’s planned role as the anchor tenant meant it was expected to be the project’s main customer. Without that agreement, the project has lost a key part of its original plan. Omar Nscale says it remains committed to the project and is exploring other ways to provide power, including generating electricity at the site. That is the company’s plan. The wider context is that large data centres need a great deal of electricity. A UK government consultation reported that, by the end of June 2025, requests to connect new demand to the electricity network included 96 gigawatts in the transmission queue and another 29 gigawatts waiting at distribution level. Transmission carries electricity over long distances; distribution networks deliver it to local areas. The government also said the rapid growth in requests may include applications that are not ready to proceed. Omar Those figures show that connection requests are large. So this setback is evidence of a real power problem for one planned site. My reading is that access to electricity is affecting plans for this site. Omar Thanks for listening to this chronicle on Slow English FM.
