In a conference room in Cardiff on 7 July, more than 30 senior figures from energy, digital infrastructure and development gathered around a table. The conversation turned on one pressing reality: Britain's electricity grid is struggling to keep pace with the explosive growth of data centres fuelled by artificial intelligence. Days later, United Infrastructure announced it would lead the creation of standardised electricity connection archetypes to bring some order to the chaos.
The archetypes target data centres, substations and high voltage compounds. Their goal is straightforward: replace bespoke engineering with consistent designs that reduce complexity, improve efficiency and speed up connections. This is the sort of pragmatic step that industry has long sought while official processes lag.
Market actors are moving where regulators have hesitated. United Infrastructure took on the role after being asked by stakeholders at the Cardiff roundtable. Akshay Kaul, director general of infrastructure at Ofgem, was present. Discussions ranged across delivering power for rising AI and data storage needs, connection reform, supply chain resilience, decentralised energy, workforce capability, planning and grid capacity.
Kaul noted that the rapid growth in data centres presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the energy system. It was encouraging to see how technologies like fuel cells could complement the grid, and these insights will be important in shaping a flexible, resilient and future-ready energy system.
His measured words at the event reflected a recognition that private innovation, including gas-to-power solutions, is already filling gaps left by years of policy that prioritised rapid renewable targets over reliable baseload capacity. The result has been connection queues stretching years, even as the economic stakes rise.
UK data centres currently account for about 2.5 percent of national electricity use. That share is projected to quadruple by 2030. In London alone their consumption matches that of 750,000 homes. Connection requests in the queue now stand at ten times existing data centre capacity, with average lead times hovering around seven years for a 50 megawatt hook-up. Enquiries for gas-to-power solutions surged last year. Many projects carry nationally significant infrastructure status.
Private initiative outpaces bureaucracy
Neil Armstrong, chief executive of United Infrastructure, captured the momentum.
