AI datacentres plan on-site power stations on huge scale despite climate risks, research reveals
181GW of gas-fired capacity proposed for sites in US and Europe because of delays in connecting to national grids, says report Developers of AI datacentres plan to build on-site climate-destroying gas power stations on a huge scale to meet their energy demands, research reveals. Datacentres planned across the US, the UK and mainland Europe have proposals to build fossil fuel plants on-site to…
A new report by BloombergNEF reveals that AI datacenters planned in the US, UK, and mainland Europe are proposing to construct on-site fossil fuel power stations, totaling 181GW of gas-fired capacity. This scale of energy production is nearly four times the peak electricity demand of Great Britain, and could lead to the emission of around 345 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, if completed.
This amount of emissions is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas output of approximately 72.8 million fossil fuel cars.
The speed with which these datacenters can generate power is a top priority for developers due to delays in connecting to national grids. The BloombergNEF report, published as world leaders met at the 31st UN climate summit in Turkey, highlights the urgency of ensuring grid connections to reduce emissions. However, the report also warns that once the gas-fired power stations are operational, the economics may encourage developers to continue using them, creating a long-term risk of fossil fuel dependency.
UK datacenters alone have made over 100 inquiries in the past two years to connect to gas as a result of grid connection delays. The government has granted permission for datacenters to build temporary on-site fossil fuel power stations, despite the fact that many climate experts consider them an unacceptable compromise.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
