Conflict arises between Labour's plans for artificial intelligence and their housing construction goals
In a world increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence (AI), Google's latest £5bn investment into the UK is significant. This investment is set to result in additional data centres, with one of them proposed for Waltham Cross. However, this development may necessitate substantial infrastructure improvements.
The data centre in Waltham Cross may require drilling under the M25 to connect to a second National Grid substation. A utilities report found that the local power supply was inadequate, necessitating a new 6km-long cable to be dug underground and connecting to a second National Grid substation. Thames Water also warned in 2018 that the existing water network infrastructure may not be able to accommodate the needs of the data centre development. Thus, significant infrastructure improvements, including a new water network and power supply upgrades, may be required.
The UK government's first new "AI Growth Zone" will be opened in Culham, rural Oxfordshire, due to the availability of a massive power supply following the decommissioning of a nuclear fusion facility. This move aligns with the government's AI Opportunities Action Plan, published in January, which outlines the opening of an AI Growth Zone in the area.
However, the UK's AI ambitions are clashing with housebuilding ambitions. In certain West London boroughs, the rapid influx of batteries and data centres is contributing to electricity capacity issues for new homes, with developers not expected to have electricity capacity until 2030. This issue may impact the UK government's plan to build an extra 1.5m homes, as reported by City AM in 2022.
The choice between building a new town or a new data centre may be this stark in some areas due to resource scarcity. For instance, Stephen Jennings, founder and CEO of Rendeavour, is facing a similar decision in East Africa. As they develop infrastructure to accommodate data centres including Airtel's Nxtra Data Center project, Jennings must decide between building a new city (Tatu City) and a new data centre.
Ministers face a dilemma in the coming months regarding the allocation of resources between building new towns and new data centres. This dilemma underscores the importance of careful planning and sustainable infrastructure development as the UK continues to embrace AI and digital technologies. Google's new data centre development in Waltham Cross, while promising in terms of compute resources, may have potential infrastructure issues that need to be addressed.
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