News · Power and timing

The UK’s largest planned AI supercomputer may wait until the 2030s for grid power. Its anchor tenant has already left

Nscale’s AI data center in Loughton, Essex, was due to open in 2027 with about 23,000 NVIDIA GPUs. The local network operator has told it there is not enough grid capacity until the early to mid-2030s, and on October 19 Microsoft confirmed it had ended its contract for the site.

Hyper Tech · October 25, 2026 · 3 min read

Concept visualization: a CROSSOVER generation skid with four isolated 800 V DC feeds, one to each module of GPU racks.
ConceptA CROSSOVER skid with four 800 V DC feeds. Hyper Tech concept visualization, not the Loughton site, not built equipment.

What happened

50–90 MWplanned campus, 50 MW first, scalable to 90 MW
23,040NVIDIA GB300 GPUs planned for the site
2027 → 2030splanned opening versus grid power, as reported
73 GWdata-center demand in Britain’s connection queue, per Ofgem
  • No grid capacity until the 2030s. UK Power Networks, which would connect the site, has said it cannot supply enough power until the early to mid-2030s, pointing to work needed on the wider transmission network.
  • The tenant has left. Microsoft, the only customer signed for Loughton, confirmed it had ended the contract, saying the decision relates to a single site. Nscale says it remains committed to Loughton and is exploring alternative power sources, including on-site generation.
  • Built but not powered. As one analyst told Data Center Knowledge, capacity that is not energized earns nothing while its costs keep running.

A national queue, not one site

Ofgem says data centers account for around 73 GW of the demand waiting to connect to Britain’s grid, against a national peak of about 45 GW last winter. It has proposed a commitment fee of £237,500 to £712,500 per megawatt to clear speculative projects from the queue.

Where CROSSOVER fits

  • Power at the site, in 16 MW blocks. Each CROSSOVER unit is designed to deliver 16 MW at 800 V DC directly from the generator. On nameplate alone, a 50 MW first phase is four units and 90 MW is six, before any redundancy.
  • Behind the meter. CROSSOVER runs on pipeline natural gas, so the first racks need not wait for a transmission upgrade.
  • Fewer pieces of equipment. No medium- and low-voltage transformers, switchgear or separate rectifiers between the gas turbine and the racks.
  • Factory-built. Skids built from existing aero engines and set up from three 40 ft modules, with a 72-hour install as the engineering target.
  • A bridge or a base. Because the output is 800 V DC either way, a site could run on CROSSOVER until its grid connection arrives, then keep the units for resilience.

On-site generation brings its own approvals: a gas supply, air-quality permits and planning. The question for each site is which of those can be in place before the grid.

Read with care: Hyper Tech is not affiliated with Nscale, Microsoft, NVIDIA or UK Power Networks, and none of them has evaluated CROSSOVER. Facts about Loughton are as reported by the sources below. Unit counts are simple arithmetic on CROSSOVER’s 16 MW design rating, not a site design. CROSSOVER is a development program; ratings, install times and dates are design targets.

Waiting years for a grid connection?

Data-center developers and investors can see the technical package, site economics and financial model under a mutual NDA.

Request the NDA

Sources

  1. Euronews: “UK’s biggest AI supercomputer may have to wait until 2030s for enough power”, September 29, 2026.
  2. Data Center Knowledge: report on Microsoft leaving the Loughton deal, citing The Guardian, October 19, 2026.
  3. IT Pro: report on Microsoft and Nscale statements, citing The Daily Telegraph, October 19, 2026.
  4. Ofgem: press release on tackling speculative data-center projects in the connection queue, July 30, 2026.
  5. The Register: UK data-center grid demand and the 45 GW national peak, February 27, 2026.
  6. Hyper Tech: CROSSOVER, power for AI data centers and CROSSOVER: 72 hours to power.

Earlier posts: A 450 MW AI data center planned for North Wales · Vantage reserves 1 GW of 800 V DC converters · NVIDIA’s DSX POD and 800 V DC power on site · 16 MW blocks at 800 V DC