Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the total (a) energy and (b) water demands of all proposed AI data centres.

The Department’s published Energy and Emissions Projections include growth in power demand from computing services like data centres. To ensure a comprehensive view, the methodology projects at a broader sector level, not disaggregating specific estimates for data centres.

Water use comes under the remit of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Its Water Delivery Taskforce is building an evidence base of data centre water use across England. The Government encourages data centre developers to consider use of non-potable water, embed water efficiency or reuse in design, and contact their proposed water and wastewater supplier early in the planning process.