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Written question asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated) on Thursday, 24 April 2025, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Friday, 9 May 2025. It was answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour) on Friday, 9 May 2025 on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.


National Grid: Infrastructure

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage investment in artificial intelligence technologies by ensuring that there is sufficient infrastructure to support the power grid.

Answer

The Government has invited expressions of interest from local authorities and other interested parties to identify locations for AI growth zones that can facilitate the rapid development of projects.

Additionally, the Government is collaborating with Ofgem and NESO to implement major reforms in the grid connections process. This initiative could unlock up to 500GW of capacity from the connection queue, thereby speeding up connections for AI data centres.

Furthermore, the Government is establishing the AI Energy Council, which will bring together senior representatives from both the energy and AI industries to determine optimal locations for AI data centres and proactively manage their energy needs.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL6863
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Investment Infrastructure National grid Artificial intelligence
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk