Saturday, 15 August 2026

Data centers seeking a grid connection in Europe's FLAP-D hubs face a wait of seven to 10 years, according to pv magazine, as operators compete for scarce capacity across Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin.

Demand is not slowing. The data center pipeline across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region is expanding by more than 40% year on year, pv magazine reported.

Supply in the established hubs has tightened to the point of near-exhaustion. Available FLAP-D capacity has fallen to around 6%, pv magazine reported, and more than 80% of that remainder is pre-let before the buildings are finished.

The combination leaves new entrants bidding for space that is already spoken for, while the connection queue in the same five markets stretches across most of a decade.

Faster oil and gas extraction driven by artificial intelligence could push global energy-related emissions up by 1.2 to 4.8 percent, according to modeling reported by Grist.

The paper appeared in the journal npj Climate Action. Its conclusion is that AI adoption raises global energy emissions by helping fossil fuel producers pump more oil and gas, Grist reported.

Mexico's annual emissions match the bottom of that band, according to Grist. The top of the band is the size of Russia's output, which Grist describes as the world's fourth-largest emitter.

Will and Holly Alpine wrote the paper. Both previously worked in sustainability roles at Microsoft and resigned at the start of 2024, citing the company's continuing business with the oil and gas industry, Grist reported.

That business has since expanded into power supply. Grist reported that Chevron and Microsoft confirmed plans for the oil producer to build a large behind-the-meter gas plant in Texas, dedicated to running data centers for the software company.

The modeled band covers productivity effects inside the fossil fuel industry, not the electricity drawn by AI systems themselves. The 1.2 percent figure and the 4.8 percent figure are both measured against global energy-related emissions.