Nscale’s £2 Billion UK AI Data Center Faces Grid Connection Delay, Report Says

Nscale’s planned £2 billion ($2.7 billion) artificial intelligence data center in Essex, United Kingdom, is facing a significant setback after being informed that its grid connection will not be available in time for the facility’s targeted 2027 opening, according to a report by The Telegraph on Monday. The delay underscores a growing tension between Britain’s ambition to become a global hub for AI infrastructure and the capacity of its electricity network to support the massive, continuous power loads required by advanced computing facilities.

The Nvidia-backed company is now exploring alternative power arrangements for the Loughton site. According to the report, Nscale has held discussions with Bloom Energy, a California-based supplier of solid oxide fuel cells that generate electricity using natural gas. While Nscale has secured planning permission for the project and expects to obtain a 90-megawatt electricity supply, the connection is not expected to be ready next year. A spokesman for Nscale told The Telegraph that the company remains fully committed to the Essex development. Bloom Energy declined to comment on the matter.

The Loughton project was announced in September 2025 by Nscale and Microsoft as part of a broader package of technology investments unveiled during US President Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain. The facility was initially expected to provide 50 MW of AI computing capacity, scalable to 90 MW, and was slated to house 23,040 Nvidia GB300 graphics processing units delivered in the first quarter of 2027. Microsoft serves as the project’s anchor customer and plans to use the capacity to support its Azure cloud services in the UK. The timeline for the facility had already been pushed back from an initial 2026 target to 2027, and further delays could expose Nscale to financial penalties if it has committed to making computing capacity available to customers by specified dates.

Nscale’s discussions with Bloom Energy reflect a broader industry shift toward behind-the-meter power generation as grid connection queues lengthen. Bloom’s fuel cells, which generate electricity through an electrochemical process rather than conventional combustion, can be installed directly at data center campuses, allowing operators to add power more quickly than through major transmission upgrades. However, the use of natural gas in these systems could complicate corporate and government emissions targets. The UK is currently attempting to reform its electricity connection process as competition intensifies among data centers, renewable-energy projects, and other large industrial users. The government has proposed prioritizing strategically important electricity demand, including data centers, while removing speculative projects that occupy space in the connection queue. It has also expanded the option for qualifying data center developments to be treated as nationally significant infrastructure projects, potentially allowing them to bypass parts of the local planning process. However, faster planning approvals do not guarantee that sufficient generation and transmission capacity will be available when construction is completed.

The Essex delay comes as Nscale is raising substantial capital to fund an international expansion. Last week, the company closed a $900 million revolving credit facility syndicated by banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank. Nscale said the facility would provide flexible liquidity for data center development across the US, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier, Nscale raised $2 billion at a valuation of approximately $14.6 billion and secured financing for projects including a large AI campus in Narvik, Norway, according to The Wall Street Journal.