Microsoft terminated its agreement to anchor Nscale’s planned AI data center in Loughton, Essex, Reuters reported on Oct. 19. Microsoft said the decision concerned one site and that its broader partnership with Nscale remained in place. Nscale said it remained committed to Loughton, was exploring alternative power sources, and that the issue had no impact on its other Microsoft contracts, Reuters reported.
The reported grid delay behind the decision
The Guardian reported on Sept. 24, 2026, that UK Power Networks had told Nscale sufficient electricity might not be available until the early to mid-2030s. UK Power Networks declined to discuss the Loughton project individually. The Guardian also reported that the site would miss its planned 2027 opening. Its report tied the delay to power supply.
Nscale’s original plan for Loughton
Nscale’s Sept. 16, 2025, announcement called for 50 MW of initial AI-compute capacity, scalable to 90 MW, with 23,040 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs planned for delivery in the first quarter of 2027. Those figures describe the announced design and schedule, not an operating data center. Nscale’s announcement also described the project as supporting Microsoft Azure services in the UK.
Stargate UK was announced separately
Nscale’s announcement described Stargate UK as a separate initiative involving Nscale, OpenAI and NVIDIA. It presented that initiative separately from the Microsoft agreement for Loughton; the announcement did not describe Stargate UK as part of the terminated deal.
