These figures are drawn from the EMEA Datacenter Market Update for H2 2024, published by global commercial real estate biz Cushman & Wakefield, and illustrate the challenge that face datacenter developers.
Most British server farms cluster around the capital, and projects are facing growing delays to get connected to the grid, a problem that may be exacerbated as more and more facilities are planned to serve the growing market for cloud and AI services. In addition to power constraints, Cushman & Wakefield also highlights numerous other hurdles that datacenter builders are being confronted by across the EMEA region: limited land availability and strict sustainability regulations, all of which lean heavy on costs and project timelines.
Yet despite these circumstances, growth continues apace, especially in the key markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin – charmingly given the moniker FLAPD. The report discerns a strong development pipeline of 2.9 GW under construction across the zone, while 8.7 GW is currently in the planning stages, making for growth of about 16 percent year-on-year. Capacity of datacenters across EMEA grew by 9 percent in the year to mid-2024 to reach 9.4 GW, and London is forecast to be the first market in the region to hit 2 GW in the next three to five years.
A review published in March 2020 by Warwick Business School of a range of ‘resource estimates’ and production forecasts produced by the industry organisation UK Onshore Oil and Gas calculated that UK fracking might produce between 90 and 330 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas between 2020 and 2050. Using future demand figures from National Grid, they calculated that could represent between 17 and 22 percent of projected cumulative UK consumption over that period. However, the review made clear the high levels of uncertainty around all these numbers and the fact that we have no estimates of ‘proven reserve’ estimates on which to base commercial development.
The link you provide is by Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment, no wonder they say there is nothing to drill for. UK has North Sea reserves
Giant gas field discovery could power Britain for a decade https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/02/13/giant-gas-field-discovery-could-power-britain-for-decade/ A giant gas field has been discovered under Lincolnshire that could fuel the UK’s entire needs for a decade, reducing dependence on imports and generating tens of thousands of jobs, an energy company has claimed…Egdon Resources, the business behind the discovery, is to formally announce its findings at an energy industry conference later this month…
If subsequent drilling confirms the scale of the find, it is likely to reignite the debate about fracking – and create a potential clash between Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, as the Government attempts to chart a course between Net Zero and economic growth…
Exploiting the field would mean ending this moratorium as well as lifting a ban on new oil and gas licensing introduced by Mr Miliband, whose own constituency of Doncaster North is close to part of the discovery. It comes after Ms Reeves announced Labour’s support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, despite longstanding opposition to the scheme from Mr Miliband. Earlier this year the Chancellor emphasised that growth, not Net Zero, was the Government’s “No 1 mission”.
However, a spokesman for Mr Miliband said on Friday: “We intend to ban fracking for good, as per our manifesto commitment. We will update on this in due course.”
According to the modelling by the Climate Change Committee, the Government’s climate watchdog, the UK will have a shortfall of more than 1 trillion cubic metres of gas between now and 2050. The waning North Sea can provide only a fifth of this, meaning Britain will be reliant on foreign imports to account for the remainder…
The potential scale of the UK’s shale gas reserves was highlighted a decade ago in research by the British Geological Survey showing four areas that could be exploited, with enough gas to supply current UK needs for at least 50 years and possibly centuries.
