AI datacentres plan huge on-site gas power stations due to grid delays

Research reveals that developers of AI datacentres across the US, UK, and mainland Europe have proposed building on-site gas-fired power stations to generate 181GW of capacity. This massive fossil-fuel expansion is driven by delays in connecting these energy-intensive facilities to national electrical grids. According to BloombergNEF, this push for rapid power could result in about 345 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in the US alone. While developers claim these temporary on-site power supplies are just a stopgap until grid connections are secured, analysts warn this creates a long-term risk of fossil-fuel lock-in.