23,040 GPUs. A Grid Date in the 2030s
Microsoft has reportedly withdrawn from Nscale’s planned AI data centre in Loughton, Essex, first reported by The Telegraph. The site was designed for 50 MW, expandable to 90 MW, with 23,040 Nvidia GB300 GPUs and first chips expected in early 2027. The Guardian reports that UK Power Networks warned the required capacity might not be available until the 2030s. Microsoft has given no public reason; Nscale says the project is going ahead.
23,040
Nvidia GB300 GPUs planned
2027 → 2030s
First chips vs. possible grid capacity
125 GW
GB demand connection applications (≥80 GW data centres)
Sources: The Register, Windows Central (citing The Telegraph and The Guardian); Ofgem, 29 July 2026.
The Scarce Input
My view: in AI infrastructure, the scarce input is no longer the chip. It is the connection. Silicon depreciates on a calendar. Grid capacity arrives on its own schedule.
A GPU waiting years for a socket is not infrastructure. It is inventory.
Ofgem says demand connection applications in Great Britain rose from 41 GW to 125 GW in under a year, with data centres accounting for at least 80 GW. A queue that size does not show what will be built. It shows what has been promised.
A question for anyone planning GPU capacity in Ireland or the UK: which date do you trust more, the delivery date or the energisation date?