How the UK can unlock the power of renewables to fuel data centre potential

Data centres’ energy needs are extensive and rising. They are also unique. To support them, and the business and growth they represent for the UK, we need to pioneer ways to leverage renewables to the maximum to support their intense energy needs. 

One option for data centres is to install behind the meter energy: power generated from on- or near-site sources, for instance wind turbines in a nearby field or solar panels on roofs. These can be installed under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), with energy companies covering upfront costs of installation and then selling the renewable energy back to the data centre at a fixed price for a fixed duration, whilst avoiding the non commodity charges associated with importing power from the grid. For those with more limited space, Corporate PPAs can be used instead to buy renewables from assets located elsewhere in the grid network. Both these options provide valuable benefits in terms of price and supply security, as well as providing sophisticated data for optimising and proving renewable usage.

Alternatively, another route is buying green power from the grid on standard supply contracts. However, in this respect fluctuating climate and infrastructure geared towards the patterns of fossil fuels are presenting challenges to harnessing sustainable energy with enough stability to be reliable.

What can be done to unlock this game-changing source of power from the grid?

Climate change putting heat on the grid

Encouragingly, production from renewable technologies increased to a record share of 50.8% of electricity generation last year. But the inherent intermittent and unpredictable nature of renewables is hindering the reliable integration of these sustainable sources into the grid. 

In the UK we are used to the challenges of Dunkelflaute – times of low renewable output in winter. On the flipside, June 2025 was the warmest on record – however this may not bring as many benefits for renewable usage as may instinctively seem to be the case. The collision of intense heat and a lack of wind (known as Hitzeflaute), and sudden spikes in both, has put the grid under stress, whilst a drop in sun in the evenings forces back traditional reliance on fossil fuels at these hours. The result? Fast-rising power prices and unstable power infrastructure.

With climate patterns shifting, it is now critical that the grid can adapt and flex to variable weather and power generation. If not, the energy transition will simply be unsustainable. To fuel the expansion of much-needed data centres, we cannot let this be the case.

What does our infrastructure currently look like?

The key to grid management is inertia – a force that works to prevent sudden frequency changes such as those that can be created by renewable generation. These sudden changes can cause blackouts like the ones recently suffered in Spain and Portugal. Data centres should not be operating with the threat of such events hanging over them – inertia needs to be in place.

To date, during the years of majority fossil fuel usage, the UK relied on synchronous generators at fossil fuel plants to provide this inertia and keep the grid balanced. 

Alongside these, another important and historic component of our grid system has been the process of issuing grid connections. The unvetted first come first served system for this has created a logjam of zombie projects, unlikely ever to get off the ground, blocking the queue for viable – and vital – developments like the construction and connection of more data centres.

How can this ageing infrastructure be brought into the renewable world of the 21st century?

Science and strategy

In welcome news, the UK has been making solid progress in developing infrastructure that can support the increasing integration of renewable power into data centre operations.

From a legislative perspective, the recent Labour Infrastructure and Industrial policies provide welcome promises of accelerated planning decisions and connection allocations for data centres.

Crucially, this is also married with activity on-the-ground in tech and innovation. Indeed, it’s all very well boosting access to the grid, if the grid itself is not up to standards. To this end, we are working to replace the synchronous plants with synchronous condensers – rotating machines that provide inertia without generating power. These will help stabilise frequency fluctuations as traditional fossil plants are phased out. Grid-forming battery inverters are also a modern equivalent to historic synchronous machines, enabling batteries to provide system stability in real time.

It is this combination of science and strategy which is needed to power the grid forward and provide a proper foundation for the data centre industry.

Renewing our investment in renewables

There is, of course, still more that needs to be done. We need to tackle grid infrastructure at every level – including improving local grids. Here, boosting our battery infrastructure will be essential – Lithium-ion batteries are compact enough to be transportable and installable in locations to ensure flexibility at local levels.

At the other end of the spectrum, we also need to scale these possibilities up to bolster not only flexibility, but also energy storage, on a national level. Pumped hydro and green hydrogen are options, but again it is Lithium-ion batteries which currently provide the most timely, expandable and financially feasible solution in the foreseeable future.

If a robust contractual framework, reinforced by compelling incentives, is put in place to help develop battery infrastructure, it would make more commercial sense to build sites that store renewable energy for far longer than the 1-2 hours which is currently possible. This will maximise the efficiency with which we use our renewably generated energy - allowing us to retain excess power and release it back into the grid when generation drops but demand rises.

For data centres, these steps will be crucial to support the stability of the grid and in turn access to renewable energy. The industry will be waiting with bated breath for this progress to be made.

Sustaining data centre growth

The widespread roll out of renewable energy was once seen as a far-off dream, but the fact is this is fast becoming reality. Data centre operators should feel empowered to seek out renewable solutions for their energy usage – but it is essential we have wider infrastructure that can keep up with these ambitions.

We are already seeing this integration take place, with promising results. It is essential the UK now builds on this foundation to remove the stability, predictability, and storage barriers which remain, and allow these sustainable sources to power the digital heart of the UK: our data centres.