Key role for gas networks in powering data centres of the future
- Research suggests gas networks could accelerate the delivery of new facilities which are currently delayed into the 2030s, and beyond, by electricity network constraints
Increased use of green gases, such as hydrogen and biomethane, in gas networks could help decarbonise data centres - Co-locating gas-fired generation plants with carbon capture, waste heat recovery, and hydrogen electrolysis supports a circular economy
- The UK’s gas networks could help ease the gridlock and unlock investment in data centres, a new study has found.
Whilst the nationally significant data centre industry is rapidly expanding across the UK and is described as having 'crucial commercial opportunities' in the Government’s Industrial Strategy, electrical power constraints, particularly around London and the M4 corridor, are leading to projects being delayed as late as 2039.
In the UK, 400 data centres are either operational, planned, or under construction, totalling just over 1GW of operational power demand (the equivalent of powering approximately 750,000 homes for a year), increasing to 4.84 GWs once all are completed. The current growth rate for data centre demand is around 10-15% per annum.
Critical to the UK’s growth and technology ambitions, the scale and form of data centres is shifting from clusters of medium-sized facilities on industrial estates to a market that includes smaller “edge” units and larger and more centralised facilities driven by increasing demand for AI.
The study, conducted by gas networks Wales & West Utilities and SGN, in collaboration with engineering firms Apollo and Stantec, highlights how the UK can learn from how gas networks elsewhere in the world are powering data centres, before exploring the feasibility of applying similar solutions. Through industry engagement and sector research, the study assesses the data centre industry’s growth and appetite for alternative sources of power, gas infrastructure suitability, and provides initial cost analyses for a range of future applications.
As gas networks progress towards lower-carbon solutions, increasingly using gases such as biomethane and hydrogen, the study found that it is possible that data centres could be powered by renewable gases.
The outputs highlight a range of possible options for different data centre archetypes within the study area, providing indicative cost and site requirements for each, as well as detailed technological solutions suitable for a variety of scales and applications.
Connection of current or future data centres to the gas network could:
- Improve timescales for energisation of new data centre facilities facing delays due to electricity network constraints
- Allow data centre development in new regions near suitable gas infrastructure that have been limited by the availability of, proximity of, or cost to connect to the existing electricity network
- Provide alternative industrial-scale off-takers for gas demand ahead of electrification, reducing the risk of having stranded assets
- Allow data centres to access low carbon biomethane today and make futureproofing allowances for replacing the incoming gas network fuel supply with a partial blend/100% hydrogen fuel mix to address operational carbon emissions
- Further reduce carbon emissions and increase commercial benefits by co-locating on-site gas-fired generation plant with suitable infrastructure e.g. carbon capture and storage, waste heat recovery and distribution, hydrogen electrolysis, electricity grid-balancing services
Head of Net Zero & Sustainability at Wales & West Utilities, Matt Hindle, commented:
“This study has shown that it is viable to supply power to a data centre from the gas network, with a view to using biomethane now and renewable hydrogen in the future to help data centres decarbonise.
"As the Government’s Industrial Strategy recognises, data centre developments are crucial for the UK economy, but could also become potential large-scale industrial customers, aligning with the development of major hydrogen infrastructure projects like HyLine Cymru – which will be key for decarbonising hard-to-abate industries.
“We will continue to engage directly with data centre operators and developers to support their growth and decarbonisation ambitions across the areas we serve.”