Greens Call for Temporary Ban on New Data Centres
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By Nick Eardley, Political correspondent, and Emilia Belli, Political reporter, BBC
Zack Polanski has called for a freeze on the approval of new data centres in England because of concerns about the amount of water and energy they use. The Green Party leader said the government should introduce stricter environmental rules and give communities more say on whether the centres are built in their area.
Data centres can use significant amounts of water to cool their systems, although there are no official figures on how much water they consume in the UK. The government argues a pause would harm investment and make the UK dependent on overseas computing for sensitive data processing, stating: "It would be a disaster for jobs and national security."
There are hundreds of data centres across the UK—with plans for many more. Exact numbers are hard to pin down, but the BBC reported last year there were around 477. Many are concentrated in London and southern England, regions currently experiencing drought.
Polanski, on a visit to a proposed data centre site in East London, told the BBC:
"We need to slam the breaks on these energy-guzzling, water-guzzling data centres... essentially, we need basically a moratorium [pause] other than local scale data centres for the local community. At a time when three-quarters of the country are in drought, it is outrageous that these are being considered critical infrastructure... To most people, critical infrastructure means hospitals, water, electricity. It doesn't mean Artificial Intelligence."
Data centres were classified as critical in 2024, granting them extra government support during incidents like cyberattacks or extreme weather. The Greens argue this could give data centres priority over households for water resources. However, the government maintains data centres would not automatically get such priority during shortages.
The BBC has also learned that ministers have not conducted an environmental assessment of their "Delivering AI Growth Zones Strategy." A government official stated it considers the document a statement of intent rather than formal policy moving towards implementation.
Currently, data centres in the UK are not required to report the amount of water they use. According to Water Research Centre consultancy's estimate in February, English centres currently consume approximately 1.9 billion litres annually.