Nscale’s £2bn UK data centre hit by grid delays

News July 13, 2026 Freya Pratty 2 min read Data centre builder Nscale has been told the power supply for its flagship UK project will not be ready in time for its planned 2027 opening, according to reports. The flagship data centre, estimated to cost £2bn, is set to provide Nvidia GPUs to customers including Microsoft. But the site, which is in Essex, is still awaiting a 90-megawatt grid connection.

Limited grid capacity has become a major bottleneck for data centre developments across the UK, as the facilities require vast amounts of electricity. Nscale is currently pursuing alternative power solutions for the site. The company is said to be in discussions with California-based Bloom Energy to provide electricity through solid oxide fuel cells instead of waiting for the permanent grid connection.

An Nscale spokesman told The Telegraph that it remained fully committed to the Essex project. If data centres fail to deliver compute capacity by an agreed date, they can sometimes have to pay their customer to account for the delays. Data from research provider Sightline Climate suggests 26% of data centre capacity was delayed in 2025.

It estimates that 30–50% of the global data centre capacity expected for 2026 could be delayed due to power constraints, equipment shortages, or local opposition. Nscale has secured over $5bn in funding, with backers including Nokia, Nvidia, Dell and Blue Owl. The company’s other UK site, a project in Northumberland, was suspended by OpenAI earlier this year, citing high energy costs.

The London-headquartered company is currently working on data centre projects in five countries. Freya Pratty Freya Pratty is Sifted's associate editor. She covers UK tech and leads Sifted's investigations.

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