Microsoft Withdraws From Nscale UK AI Site Facing Grid Delays

Microsoft has exited a planned Nscale AI data center in Loughton, England, leaving the project without its publicly announced customer as a grid delay threatens its 2027 launch.

Nscale and Microsoft unveiled the project on Sept. 16, 2025. The plan called for 50 megawatts of initial computing capacity for Microsoft Azure, with 23,040 Nvidia GB300 graphics processors slated for delivery in the first quarter of 2027. The campus was designed to grow to 90 megawatts.

Sufficient grid power may not arrive until the early to mid-2030s. That leaves a gap of several years between the planned chip delivery and the potential grid connection. Nscale is exploring other ways to power the site. An Nscale spokesperson said the grid issue has “no impact on our other contracts” with Microsoft.

Nscale spun out of Arkon Energy in May 2024; Arkon’s facilities included Bitcoin mining sites. In July, Britain’s energy regulator put data center demand in the national grid connection queue at about 73 gigawatts.