Mayor sets ambition for London to be global leader in Green Data Centre Innovation and pledges coordinated action to seize huge opportunities

Mayor sets ambition for London to be global leader in Green Data Centre Innovation and pledges coordinated action to seize huge opportunities

· New report highlights surge in demand for energy to power new data centres in London, with future data centres demand for connections up to 10 times the current levels.

· Data centre growth in London is critical to ensure the capital remains the leading global hub for digital innovation and AI

· Ambition underpinned in new London Infrastructure Framework, which is pivotal to unlocking housing, driving job creation and upgrading London's transport network

· Sadiq committed to leading whole-city coordination on data centre growth shaped around climate, resilience and responsible AI

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has set out his ambition for London to be global leader in Sustainable Data Centre Innovation. He has pledged to deliver coordinated action on data centres, while unveiling a new report revealing the major impact on London's energy network, with demand driving unprecedented pressure on electricity networks.

The new report, commissioned and published by City Hall*, provides a scene setter of the industry that reveals that London remains the UK's leading data centre hub, with 99 sites delivering around 760MW at peak demand - the equivalent to the electricity use of 750,000 homes.

But demand for power is accelerating at an unprecedented scale. There is around 10 times the capacity currently used by existing data centres in London already requested in the grid connection queue.

Over the last two decades, global internet usage has surged from just six per cent of the world's population to nearly three quarters - an astonishing 11,000 per cent increase - and data centres have been key to supporting this huge increase in consumption. [2] They contain the information technology equipment that most of the digital world relies on and underpin most aspects of modern life, including economic activity, public service delivery, and how we interact with one another. Without data centres, many everyday activities would not work reliably. [1]

Data centres are now critical infrastructure for the day-to-day functioning of London's economy and its position as a leading centre for innovation - it is vital for energy infrastructure to keep up with demand, and its ability to do so will have significant implications for housing delivery, economic growth and decarbonisation.

Published during London Tech Week, the new City Hall report highlights the rapid growth in demand for data centre development across London, underlining both the opportunity for London and the importance of supporting growth in a coordinated and sustainable way.

To address the challenge, Sadiq will deliver a whole-city partnership approach by bringing together boroughs, energy providers, innovative companies, developers and universities. In the coming weeks, a data centre development roundtable will be hosted at City Hall to progress this work. The Mayor supports urgent action from Government to address the increasing connection queue because London is at the centre of the UK's grid connections challenge, given its position as the primary hub for data centre development in Europe.

Sadiq wants to go further, positioning the capital as a real-world testbed for greener data centre solutions, where new approaches to energy efficiency, energy generation, heat reuse, and smarter infrastructure can be developed and scaled. The Mayor's position is clear: London intends not simply to adapt to this technological shift, but to shape and lead it - responsibly, sustainably and in a way that protects our climate and benefits our communities.

London is already beginning to demonstrate what this could look like in practice. At Old Oak and Park Royal, the Mayoral Development Corporation, the OPEN heat network will use waste heat from data centres to provide low-carbon heat to homes and businesses, showing how digital infrastructure can be better integrated into the city's wider energy system. [3]

The Mayor is working alongside other global cities to make London a leader in responsible AI innovation, reducing its environmental footprint while maximising public benefit. As Chair of C40, Sadiq leads a network of global mayors to support them in addressing the distinctive challenges that cities encounter due to their diverse social, political, and economic contexts, as well as the unique climate risks they confront. [4]

The Mayor is already taking first steps of translating his ambition into action through his next London Plan, which will include a new data centre policy that will set out plans to address the significant environmental impacts of data centres. The draft London Plan, due to be published this summer, will take a strategic approach to major energy users such as data centres, so that their growth is aligned with, not at the expense of, London's housing ambitions. This will help steer and shape data centre development to mitigate their environmental impacts.

The recently launched London Infrastructure framework is part of the Mayor's wider whole-city partnership approach to managing infrastructure challenges across the capital. Through this strategic framework, the Mayor is taking a coordinated, long-term approach to ensuring the capital's energy, transport and digital infrastructure can keep pace with rising demand. The Framework identifies increasing electricity capacity and resilience as a top priority, with major projects helping to expand the network and support new homes, low carbon transport and growing digital demand. [5]

Sadiq is take taking a holistic approach to managing all the impacts of AI and earlier this year, he launch his new London AI and Jobs Taskforce alongside online AI training to ensure Londoners can upskill and take advantage of this new technology. The Mayor's Taskforce will examine how AI is already beginning to reshape work in London, identify the most significant near-term risks and opportunities for Londoners and employers, and advise on the practical actions needed to strengthen skills, protect pathways into work and support broad-based growth. [6]

This extends beyond data centres to the wider ecosystem of AI infrastructure, including compute, cloud and data systems that underpin AI applications. All of the initial investments made by the Government's Sovereign AI Fund have been in London-based firms, highlighting the capital's leading role in AI innovation and infrastructure.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: "My ambition is clear, I want London to become the world's leading city for environmentally friendly, low emission, high efficiency data centre development, and AI infrastructure so that our capital remains a leading global hub for digital innovation.

"The new study highlights both the scale of opportunity and the complexity of managing data centre growth.

"The energy requirements of data centres are colossal, so delivering their expansion at pace alongside London's other infrastructure needs will require more coordinated planning. Closer partnership between the private and public sector, and across all levels of Government, will be vital.

"That is why I am committed to leading a whole-city partnership approach, shaped around climate, resilience and responsible AI, as we work together to build a better, more prosperous London for everyone."

Councillor Monica Hamidi, Ealing Council's cabinet member for good growth, said: "We are seeing increasing demand for data centres in the borough in several proposals in areas such as Park Royal and Southall, where access to power, land and connectivity aligns.

"We support data centres in the right locations, where they deliver real value for residents, meet high standards on sustainability and can support economic growth such as the West Tech Corridor in North Acton. That includes commitments to renewable energy, low-impact cooling technologies and making better use of waste heat - for example through district heating networks.

"We also recognise the pressures this growth can place on infrastructure, particularly electricity capacity. We will work closely with the GLA, network providers and developers to support economic growth, skills and innovation in a joined-up approach that balances digital infrastructure with housing, climate goals and the needs of local communities."

Joe Northwood, Director of Portfolio Strategy & Development at National Grid, said: "We're investing nearly £3 billion in London over the next five years to upgrade and expand our network and meet growing demand for electricity.

"This investment, alongside the development of more flexible and innovative ways to connect large sources of demand to our network, will help support the Mayor's ambition for London to be a global leader in sustainable data centre development.

"Collaboration will be key. Close coordination between developers, the Greater London Authority and our regulator and industry partners is essential to delivering the critical grid investment London needs to support long-term economic growth."