Microsoft has dropped a planned AI data centre at Loughton, Essex, about six miles north-east of London. The Financial Times broke the story, the Guardian followed on 18 October, and CoinDesk reported it on 19 October.
The site, run by Nscale, was to hold 23,040 Nvidia chips and supply 50 megawatts of compute to Azure by early 2027. Nscale announced it in 2025 with Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI. When the Guardian visited in February, it was a scaffolding yard.
UK Power Networks told Nscale there may not be enough grid capacity until the early to mid 2030s. Ofgem says data centre connection requests total about 73 gigawatts, and is weighing tougher rules because some applicants may never build.
Nscale has cleared the site and is exploring other power options. It says its other Microsoft contracts remain in place, so this reads as one site failing on power rather than a retreat.
The story has a bitcoin angle. Nscale grew out of Arkon Energy, a bitcoin mining site builder. CoinShares estimates that AI-ready facilities cost $8 million to $15 million per megawatt, against $700,000 to $1 million for mining.
Across the miners CoinShares tracks, more than 4 gigawatts of AI capacity is under contract, but only about 550 megawatts is billing customers.
The 73 gigawatt queue means other projects may face the same wait. Neither Microsoft nor Nscale has explained the decision in the reporting, and nobody says what happens to the 23,040-chip order.
