BBC: residents oppose the East Havering data centre campus at North Ockendon on London's green belt, as a GLA report puts London grid connection waits at seven to 13 years

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The BBC reports that Digital Reef's proposed East Havering Data Centre campus at North Ockendon, on green belt land in east London, would be one of the largest in Europe if approved, and that local residents and Friends of the Earth oppose it over construction traffic, noise, power and the planning process. The article quotes a report for the Greater London Authority, London's Data Centre Future Growth Forecasts and Strategic Insights, which calls energy 'the single most critical constraint' on London's data centre growth and says new grid connections may take seven to 13 years, against three to seven years in other European markets. The same report says a 100 MW hyperscale data centre in the UK can use up to 2.5 billion litres of water a year, and that data centres use about 5% of London's drinkable water, expected to rise to 7%. Barbour ABI expects about 100 more UK data centres on top of about 477 today, 28 of them in the Thames Water catchment. The draft London Plan says green belt should only be considered if no brownfield site is available. Figures are as reported by the BBC.

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