Datacentre projects could face fees for grid access to ease connection queue, Ofgem says

Energy regulator’s plan would mean upfront fees or financial security via letters of credit, bonds or cash deposits

Datacentre projects in Britain will be forced to put down significant upfront fees to secure an energy connection under proposals to ease an electricity grid logjam.

Ofgem, the sector watchdog, said there are 315 datacentres currently queueing to connect up, representing 73GW of demand. This is almost 30GW above the entire country’s peak energy demand of 45GW.