Data centers: more than 100 GW to connect, and energy is the new bottleneck

For years the debate about data centers focused on the supply of accelerators. The constraint has moved. It now sits with energy, and with the grid that has to carry it. According to estimates cited by SolarEdge, between 2026 and 2030 the world will have to connect more than 100 gigawatts of new computing capacity built for artificial intelligence.

The British case

The clearest example comes from the United Kingdom. The Loughton project in Essex was developed by Nscale and presented in 2025 as the country's largest AI supercomputer. It will not enter service in 2027 as planned. The distributor UK Power Networks has said the grid will be able to supply enough power only from the early 2030s. The facility had requested up to 90 megawatts, roughly the consumption of 315,000 households.

The queue shows the scale. In June, 315 data centers were waiting for a connection, with total demand of 73 gigawatts. That is more than the national peak electricity demand, which is around 45 gigawatts. The regulator Ofgem has warned about the accumulated delays. Nscale is weighing on-site generation options, and the group is aiming for a listing with a valuation of around 35 billion dollars.

Italy is moving too

The issue concerns Italy closely. Mediterra DataCenters will invest more than 20 million euros by the end of 2026 in the Carini site, in the province of Palermo. The site was acquired together with Open Hub Med and today operates as PMO01. The plan calls for the acquisition of the infrastructure, the upgrading of existing capacity and an expansion. A roadshow will continue in Bologna and Rome to present the project to operators. In the chief executive's reading, Sicily sits at the center of the Mediterranean's digital routes.

What to watch

For those planning infrastructure, three indicators matter more than the availability of chips. The first is the connection capacity already authorized in the chosen area; the second is the availability of water for cooling; the third is the stability of energy prices over the medium term. All are local constraints. They explain why the map of European data centers is being redrawn toward Northern Europe and toward areas with surplus electricity production.

"It is no longer a question of accelerators: it is a question of electrons" is the summary that emerges from the British and Italian cases.