The amount of power being sought by 140 new datacentre projects in Great Britain would exceed the national current peak electricity consumption, prompting severe warnings from the industry watchdog Ofgem regarding grid stability.

The global artificial intelligence revolution is silently devouring power grids. Driven by the massive computational requirements of large language models, tech infrastructure is fundamentally threatening national energy security.

Ofgem recently disclosed that proposed datacentre schemes could demand a staggering 50 gigawatts (GW) of electricity—5GW more than the country's current peak demand. This revelation highlights a terrifying bottleneck: the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure is outpacing the physical capacity to power it. The implications of this energy crunch are not confined to Europe; they send shockwaves through the global tech industry, prompting operators to desperately search for sustainable, high-capacity energy havens around the world, including right here in East Africa.

A Regulatory Tightrope on Grid Connections

The surge in connection applications between November 2024 and June 2025 has exceeded even the most ambitious forecasts. Meanwhile, new renewable energy projects are failing to connect to the grid at a pace required to offset this enormous new burden. Ofgem warns that prioritizing surging numbers of datacentres could severely delay other critical decarbonization initiatives. Datacentres, the undisputed central nervous systems of AI tools such as chatbots and advanced image generators, are threatening to derail legally binding climate commitments.

This European crisis directly illuminates a massive economic opportunity for Kenya. As Britain struggles to accommodate these 50GW demands, global tech giants are pivoting toward regions offering abundant, unexploited green energy. Kenya, which generates over 90% of its electricity from renewable sources—primarily geothermal power from the Great Rift Valley—is uniquely positioned to become a premier destination for global data infrastructure. Projects like KenGen's Green Energy Park in Olkaria are actively wooing these stranded international investors.

• 140 new datacentre projects in Britain threaten to break the national grid limit.
• Kenya's geothermal capacity presents an attractive, green alternative for global tech firms.
• Datacentres operating AI models use exponentially more power than traditional cloud storage.

The Green Energy Pivot to East Africa

The sheer scale of the investment required to power these datacentres is staggering. Building sufficient grid infrastructure to support 50GW of continuous power demands capital outlays equivalent to trillions of Kenyan Shillings. If European grids cannot support this, the capital flight toward sustainable energy hubs like Kenya could rapidly accelerate. Positioning Nairobi as the "Silicon Savannah" is no longer just about software talent; it is fundamentally about leveraging geothermal stability to power the AI era.

The Guardian reported last year that a vast datacentre proposed for Elsham in Lincolnshire could cause more greenhouse gas emissions than five international airports combined. This environmental paradox—where AI, championed as a tool to solve climate change, actively exacerbates it—is forcing a reckoning. For Kenyan policymakers, offering zero-carbon energy to host international servers represents a highly lucrative economic frontier. A single hyperscale datacentre investment can easily inject over $100 million (approx. KES 13 billion) into the local economy.

"Unviable applications for grid access could block progress for important datacentre bids, ultimately forcing the technology sector to seek greener, more accommodating pastures abroad," an energy analyst remarked.