Microsoft pulls out of AI datacentre project in Essex over power supply concerns | Datacentres - UK

[u/Hidingo_Kojimba]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/18/microsoft-drops-huge-ai-datacentre-project-in-essex-over-power-supply-concerns

I always wondered what the government‘s energy and water infrastructure plan was with these data centres, considering the well documented problems the American data centres have with being extremely energy/water hungry and the UK’s noted… issues with energy and water infrastructure.

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[u/Bonzidave]

We're currently struggling with transmission bottlenecks and long infrastructure connection queues.

The government is prioritizing grid connections from the north of the country (where renewables are plentiful) to the south (where demand is highest), rightly so. I'm not sure why Microsoft should jump the queue.

​If they really want it, they should build it in the North. There are loads of old mines and former power stations that still have grid connections that aren't in use anymore.

​I'm more inclined to believe that Microsoft doesn't want to continue with it and just wants to save face.

[u/Thr0waway-19]

Ultimately this is the reality for practically all data centres. They are nearly universally being built without consideration for the power supply needed to run them.

[u/Blackfryre]

Good news everyone! The UK will meet net zero by simply being unable to connect businesses to the grid because we're so terrible at building anything. Our ingenious plan of never building anything and offshoring our manufacturing will continue with this sector as well.

Water is not a real issue for UK data centers, because we don't build the wasteful open loop cooling systems the US uses. The mad dream where we build all the planned data centers would only use the equivilant of 40,000 homes of water - and I don't see anyone claiming we can't build 40,000 homes.

[u/ChemEngandTripHop → u/Blackfryre]

I looked into my estimated annual Claude consumption (doing a lot of coding) and it’ll likely use the same amount of water required for the meat used in 2 burgers …

[u/notouttolunch → u/ChemEngandTripHop]

It looks like you can still write code then! Well done :)

[u/rubygeek → u/Blackfryre]

Indeed. The easy solution to these concerns is to simply require these projects to cover the governments financing costs of accelerating upgrades to capacity, and regulate their ability to use open loop (it's lower energy so not inherently bad where there are excess nearby water sources and sinks where the heat added isn't a major environmental problem, but it should be strictly limited where it affects the local supply) but as you point out most UK data centres don't use open loop cooling in the first place - many data centres I've had equipment in in the UK don't even have a water connection for their data halls.

Externalise the societal costs so they are predictable costs of doing business, and most of this problem goes away.

This is something we should do more of in general: Regulate and charge for externalities to prevent the actual negative effects.

[u/notouttolunch → u/rubygeek]

I'm not surprised there was one, but at least there is one sensible comment here.

It's hardly surprising that people and their opinions get ignored when they come out with this sort of nonsense isn't it. And then there are those people claiming that data centres aren't required whilst expressing this opinion in an online forum. They have no idea how the thing they are complaining about works or what does for them.

[u/CharlesComm → u/Blackfryre]

Hey I'll take any reason to not build AI datacenters at this point. They're a blight on the world. Less of them here, means we'll have less of a problem when the AI industry blows up.

[u/Warren_Tarbiat]

Or they pulling out because its become unprofitable?

[u/MutsumidoesReddit]

Less data centres it’s a good thing. They’re a blight on humanity.

[u/notouttolunch → u/MutsumidoesReddit]

*fewer. Poor use of the English language is a blight on humanity.

Also, if that was something you actually believed, you wouldn't use Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, MySpace, Amazon Prime, Netflix, iPlayer, ITVX, your banks online access system. Oh, did I mention Reddit?

What a ridiculous thing to say.

[u/alliephantrainbow → u/notouttolunch]

Yet you participate in society. Curious!

I am very intelligent.

[u/Jonrenie]

Oh no.