{
  "slug": "gb-demand-connection-queue-2026",
  "title": "Two Data Centre Figures for One Queue, and What Ofgem Leaves Unstated",
  "url": "https://solaranalytica.com/gb-demand-connection-queue-2026",
  "summary": "Ofgem states Britain's demand connection queue rose from 41 GW to 125 GW between November 2024 and June 2025, and that around 73 GW of the total demand queue is data centres. Its press release says the rise is driven largely by data centre projects, accounting for at least 80 GW. The consultation and the press release give no date for the 73 GW and no base for the 80 GW, and a connection queue is not a demand forecast.",
  "license": "Free to use with attribution to Solar Analytica (solaranalytica.com). Underlying figures are named to their public sources below.",
  "csv": "https://solaranalytica.com/reports/gb-demand-connection-queue-2026/data.csv",
  "datePublished": "2026-08-23",
  "lastReviewed": "2026-10-21",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Ofgem, Curate: Demand Connections Reform, consultation document, 29 July 2026",
      "url": "https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-07/Proposed-data-centre-connection-reforms-curate-consultation-document.pdf"
    },
    {
      "title": "Ofgem, Proposed data centre connection reforms (consultation landing page, responses due by 16 September 2026)",
      "url": "https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consultation/proposed-data-centre-connection-reforms"
    },
    {
      "title": "Ofgem, Ofgem acts to free up grid capacity by tackling speculative data centre projects, press release, 29 July 2026",
      "url": "https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/ofgem-acts-free-grid-capacity-tackling-speculative-data-centre-projects"
    },
    {
      "title": "Slaughter and May, Pay to Stay: Ofgem's plan to cull the data centre connection queue, 10 August 2026",
      "url": "https://www.slaughterandmay.com/insights/new-insights/pay-to-stay-ofgem-s-plan-to-cull-the-data-centre-connection-queue/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Addleshaw Goddard, Ofgem's Curate Consultation: what it means for grid connected data centre projects in Great Britain, 12 August 2026",
      "url": "https://www.addleshawgoddard.com/en/insights/insights-briefings/2026/infrastructure-projects-energy/ofgems-curate-consultation-grid-connected-data-centre-projects-great-britain/"
    }
  ],
  "figures": [
    {
      "id": "gb-demand-queue-scale",
      "title": "Great Britain's demand connection queue, the undated data centre figure and peak demand",
      "unit": "GW",
      "provenance": {
        "dataSource": "Ofgem, Curate: Demand Connections Reform, 29 July 2026, executive summary and paragraphs 2.6 and 2.7",
        "dataType": "Published regulatory analysis",
        "scope": "Great Britain transmission and distribution demand queue",
        "statistic": "Contracted offers, and the system peak Ofgem states for scale",
        "interval": "November 2024 and June 2025; data centre reading undated; peak demand 2025 (2025/26 in chapter 2)"
      },
      "caption": "Contracted offers at two dated readings, Ofgem's undated data centre figure drawn apart from both, and the system peak Ofgem states for scale.",
      "series": [
        {
          "label": "Queue, Nov 2024",
          "value": 41
        },
        {
          "label": "Queue, Jun 2025",
          "value": 125
        },
        {
          "label": "Data centres (undated)",
          "value": 73
        },
        {
          "label": "GB peak demand, 2025",
          "value": 45
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "gb-data-centre-size-bands",
      "title": "Data centre queue by size band: share of projects against share of capacity",
      "unit": "per cent",
      "valueLabel": "Share of projects",
      "valueBLabel": "Share of capacity",
      "provenance": {
        "dataSource": "Ofgem, Curate: Demand Connections Reform, Table 1",
        "dataType": "Published regulatory analysis; project shares computed from Ofgem's counts",
        "scope": "Around 315 data centre projects totalling around 73 GW",
        "statistic": "Share of count and share of contracted capacity",
        "interval": "As published 29 July 2026"
      },
      "caption": "Each size band's share of the 315 queued data centre projects against its share of the 73 GW of contracted capacity.",
      "series": [
        {
          "label": "Small (0 to 10 MW)",
          "value": 3.5,
          "valueB": 0.1
        },
        {
          "label": "Medium (10 to 50 MW)",
          "value": 14.9,
          "valueB": 1.9
        },
        {
          "label": "Large (50 to 100 MW)",
          "value": 16.2,
          "valueB": 4.8
        },
        {
          "label": "Extra-large (100 to 500 MW)",
          "value": 52.7,
          "valueB": 50.2
        },
        {
          "label": "Hyper (500 MW and above)",
          "value": 12.7,
          "valueB": 43
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "gb-data-centre-figures",
      "title": "Ofgem's queue totals and its two data centre figures, with what each leaves unstated",
      "unit": "GW",
      "provenance": {
        "dataSource": "Ofgem, Curate: Demand Connections Reform, 29 July 2026, paragraphs 2.6 and 2.7, and Ofgem's press release of the same date",
        "dataType": "Published regulatory figures, as printed",
        "scope": "Great Britain demand connection queue",
        "statistic": "Contracted offers; the data centre figures as printed, with no date (73 GW) and no base (at least 80 GW) stated",
        "interval": "November 2024 and June 2025 for the totals; not stated for either data centre figure"
      },
      "caption": "The two dated queue totals, the consultation's around 73 GW of data centres with no date stated, and the press release's at least 80 GW with no base stated, each as Ofgem printed it.",
      "series": [
        {
          "label": "Queue, Nov 2024",
          "value": 41
        },
        {
          "label": "Queue, Jun 2025",
          "value": 125
        },
        {
          "label": "Data centres, no date stated (around)",
          "value": 73
        },
        {
          "label": "Data centres, no base stated (at least)",
          "value": 80
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}