Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the data centre capacity is in the UK.

Figures from techUK and the UK Council of Data Centre Operators estimate that there are around 500 data centres in the UK[1]. Capacity for these data centres can be measured by ‘power provisioning’, which is the maximum amount of power that the data centre operator has contracted from the supplier and is therefore able to draw upon.

This power is contracted based on the maximum amount that the data centre site could need when it is fully occupied and working at full capacity, with provision built in for a small margin of additional power.

Power provision is instantaneous and it is estimated that the combined UK data centre estate is able to draw upon between 1,500 and 1,700 MW (Most Power Consumed) at any given time, based on analysis provided to the Department for Culture Media & Sport by techUK.