The UK’s energy network system may be Achilles heels for its aspirations to become a center for artificial intelligence, as the country is wrestling with an overpowered energy network and some of the highest electricity prices in the world.
Earlier this week, American technology giants, Microsoft and Openai, promised to invest 31 billion pounds (41.8 billion dollars) in artificial intelligence projects in the United Kingdom.
This announcement came after President Donald Trump’s visit to London and was placed as an angle to renew the United States – Ok Technology PartnershipHe welcomed by Prime Minister Kiir Starmer and Minister of Technology Liz Kendall, who said he was a vote on confidence in the prosperous AI sector in the country.
UK may advance technology in infrastructure
The UK Energy Network is among the oldest in Europe and has increasing difficulties in linking new projects. Savills PLC real estate consultations can take at least five years to secure a new network connection, a timetable that collides with the urgent need for the data center’s ability to support the burdens of artificial intelligence work.
Data centers are among the most powerful energy infrastructure, as it consumes a single area of 100 megawatts of 260,000 homes, according to Aurora Energy Research. Analysts warn that without great promotions, it can quickly link the UK regime.
“The UK is simply inappropriate to develop the data center, with some of the highest electricity prices in the world, an inappropriate planning system and a systematic failure to rule,” said Joshua Lesi, the chief technology official at XTX, a London -based commercial company.
Politics pledges can encroach on a brick wall from the facts of the market
Starmer promise Rapid track planning approval For new data centers, reducing access to the network and setting “artificial intelligence growth areas” throughout the country. His government is also committed to the central energy policy targeting a fully clean network by 2030, while the average family bills are cut off by 300 pounds.
However, industry monitors are skeptical that these aspirations can be reconciled with the increasing demands of demand. According to the analysis conducted by independent commodity intelligence services (ICIS), energy consumption is by Data centers It can increase 40 % by the end of the contract. Even with standard additions with renewable capacity, this would absorb a lot of additional offer.
The UK received 50 % of electricity from renewable energy sources last year, the highest level in the registry. But new artificial intelligence facilities can compensate for these gains quickly. ICIS warns that the energy prices in Baseload may rise by 9 % by 2040 without parallel investments in renewable energy sources and storage capacity.
“The difference in price is currently the main distinction between the French markets and the United Kingdom in terms of the attractiveness of the data center,” said Luka Urbanuchi, an ICIS analyst, said. “The high electricity costs in the UK will remain a structural traction, as developers are increasingly attracted to low -price areas of energy and abundant renewable resources.”
The UK makes the push for the leadership of artificial intelligence
The challenge for Britain is not only about the cost but also about competitiveness. In the United States, the artificial intelligence boom prompted the largest increase in electricity demand for decades, prompting technology giants to negotiate directly with facilities and even payment to restart the movements that have been moved.
Last year, Microsoft agreed to finance the Revolution of the Nile Mile Island island in New York to secure long -term supply of artificial intelligence.
Similar deals are less feasible in Britain, where energy markets are organized tightly and the network restrictions are sharp. The developers warn that unless network reforms accelerate, the UK may miss this wave of artificial intelligence.
Britain’s ambition will depend on its position because the center of artificial intelligence in Europe is not only on foreign capital but on its ability to quickly update the energy infrastructure.
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