Nscale’s UK supercomputer project delayed until mid-2030s due to power grid bottleneck

The UK’s largest planned AI supercomputer, a project the government enthusiastically championed as a pillar of its artificial intelligence strategy, won’t be switching on next year as promised. It might not switch on until the mid-2030s. Nscale, the London-based AI infrastructure company backed by Nvidia, has hit a wall that no amount of GPU horsepower can solve: the electricity grid simply can’t deliver the juice. UK Power Networks has told the company that the 90 MW connection needed for its Loughton, Essex facility isn’t feasible within the original timeline, thanks to severe congestion on Britain’s power grid. A scaffolding yard where a supercomputer should be The Loughton data centre was supposed to be a crown jewel. Announced in 2025 as part of the UK government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, it was designed to host thousands of Nvidia GPUs deployed by Microsoft, the project’s anchor tenant. Initial capacity was set at 50 MW, with plans to scale to 90 MW. Instead, as recently as March 2026, the site was being used as an operational scaffolding yard. Planning permission has been secured, the corporate commitments are in place, and the hardware partnerships are lined up. The g...