UK gas networks received 113 connection enquiries from datacentre developers in 2024 and 2025, industry body Future Energy Networks (FEN) said, as developers facing electricity-grid delays explored gas-fired generation.
FEN, which represents UK gas networks, said some enquiries were speculative and multiple enquiries could relate to a single connection request. The total therefore does not establish that 113 distinct datacentres are committed to using gas.
Silvia Simon, FEN’s head of research, said developers were seeking gas for primary power supply as well as backup. She said the requests represented more than 15 terawatt-hours of energy a year.
An energy consultant who had worked for years in the sector said some developers were seeking gas power on a permanent basis. The projects were not identified.
Electricity connection delays
Stuart Okin, Ofgem’s director of cyber regulation and AI, said about 100GW of datacentre projects were waiting to connect to the National Grid. He said not all would secure a connection.
Okin spoke on the sidelines of the All-Energy conference in Glasgow. His figure describes proposed capacity in the connection queue, rather than capacity already operating.
The government said some projects faced electricity connection waits of up to 15 years. FEN attributed developers’ growing interest in gas connections to delays in accessing the electricity network.
Clean-power targets and connection reforms
The government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan calls for clean sources to provide at least 95% of Great Britain’s electricity generation in a typical weather year and to generate at least as much electricity as Great Britain consumes over the whole year. The plan retains unabated gas capacity for use when needed.
Julian Leslie, director of strategic planning at the National Energy System Operator, said datacentres powered by unabated gas outside the electricity grid raised questions about what that would mean for the 2030 target.
The plan’s technical annex excludes gas-fired combined heat and power generation, other than that from major power producers, from its clean-power metrics. It says emissions from the excluded generation are accounted for as industrial emissions under carbon budgets.
Eleanor Warburton, Ofgem’s director for energy system design and development, said AI growth was increasing energy demand through datacentre expansion. She said demand-connection reforms were intended to help viable projects connect faster.
The government had also proposed strengthening conditions for joining and remaining in the demand-connection queue and prioritising strategically important projects, including AI datacentres.
