Amazon's European datacenter buildout blows a breaker as grid connection wait list hits 7 years
(2026/02/03)
- Reference: 1770149247
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/02/03/amazon_power_europe/
- Source link:
Amazon Web Services' European expansion has hit the buffers as the American cloud provider grapples with aging grid infrastructure and lengthy interconnect delays.
AWS has moved quickly to flood the European continent with its elastic compute fabric, but while it may take two years to bring a new datacenter online, securing power for the facilities can take up to seven years, Pamela MacDougall, who heads energy markets and regulation for AWS EMEA, said in an [1]interview with Reuters this week.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in some European datacenter meccas, like Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin, this wait can [2]extend to as much as a decade.
[3]
This isn't unique to Europe. While a 2025 IEA report showed grid connection lead times ranging from one to three years on average across the US, in datacenter hot spots like Northern Virginia, they're also [4]pushing [PDF] seven years.
[5]
[6]
"We're finding more and more across Europe that certainty of the delivery date has continued to be delayed," MacDougall told the news wire.
These delays have forced AWS to reassess its European buildout.
[7]
Power has become more of a problem for bit barn builders as the AI boom enters its fourth year. Since ChatGPT's debut in 2022, datacenter power consumption has skyrocketed, with typical rack densities jumping from 6-12 kW to upwards of 140 kW, with 600 kW systems [8]slated to start rolling out next year.
Along with greater power consumption, AI workloads, particularly training, can be extremely spiky, with utilization jumping from just a couple of percent to 100 percent in a fraction of a second. This leaves grid operators and utilities tasked with serving these datacenters little time to respond to surges in energy demand.
The permitting process associated with grid improvements in Europe has also proven problematic, though regulation from the European Commission has been proposed to prevent this process from exceeding two years.
[9]
Further complicating matters, energy infrastructure remains in incredibly short supply with turbine manufacturers struggling to keep up with demand.
In response, cloud providers including Amazon have begun turning to alternative energy sources to secure power for their facilities. Amazon last year [10]purchased Talen Energy's Cumulus datacenter campus next to a nuclear power plant, while Microsoft and Meta are also backing projects to [11]reignite or extend the life of aging reactors.
[12]Next-gen nuclear reactors safe enough to skip full environmental reviews, says Trump admin
[13]AI datacenter boom triples US gas power builds, filling the air with more CO2
[14]Uncle Sam dangles nuclear campuses for states while watering down safety rules
[15]Moscow likely behind wiper attack on Poland's power grid, experts say
We've also seen a flurry of interest in startups developing [16]small modular reactors (SMRs). These mini nuclear power plants could be deployed alongside datacenters if they can be made commercially viable.
With even the most optimistic SMR roadmaps pushing mass production out to the 2030s, a seven-year lead time on grid connections is probably the better deal for now.
The Register reached out to Amazon for comment on how it plans to address these grid challenges; we'll let you know if we hear anything back. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/power-grid-delays-challenge-amazons-data-center-expansion-europe-2026-02-03/
[2] https://www.iea.org/commentaries/overcoming-energy-constraints-is-key-to-delivering-on-europe-s-data-centre-goals
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/de9dea13-b07d-42c5-a398-d1b3ae17d866/EnergyandAI.pdf
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/nvidia_charts_course_for_600kw/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/04/amazon_acquires_cumulus_nuclear_datacenter/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/09/meta_nuke_deals/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/03/nextgen_nuclear_reactors_skip_nepa_reviews/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/29/ai_datacenter_boom_tripled_us_gas_power_builds/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/29/us_nuclear_campuses/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/moscow_likely_behind_wiper_attack/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/03/nextgen_nuclear_reactors_skip_nepa_reviews/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
AWS has moved quickly to flood the European continent with its elastic compute fabric, but while it may take two years to bring a new datacenter online, securing power for the facilities can take up to seven years, Pamela MacDougall, who heads energy markets and regulation for AWS EMEA, said in an [1]interview with Reuters this week.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in some European datacenter meccas, like Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin, this wait can [2]extend to as much as a decade.
[3]
This isn't unique to Europe. While a 2025 IEA report showed grid connection lead times ranging from one to three years on average across the US, in datacenter hot spots like Northern Virginia, they're also [4]pushing [PDF] seven years.
[5]
[6]
"We're finding more and more across Europe that certainty of the delivery date has continued to be delayed," MacDougall told the news wire.
These delays have forced AWS to reassess its European buildout.
[7]
Power has become more of a problem for bit barn builders as the AI boom enters its fourth year. Since ChatGPT's debut in 2022, datacenter power consumption has skyrocketed, with typical rack densities jumping from 6-12 kW to upwards of 140 kW, with 600 kW systems [8]slated to start rolling out next year.
Along with greater power consumption, AI workloads, particularly training, can be extremely spiky, with utilization jumping from just a couple of percent to 100 percent in a fraction of a second. This leaves grid operators and utilities tasked with serving these datacenters little time to respond to surges in energy demand.
The permitting process associated with grid improvements in Europe has also proven problematic, though regulation from the European Commission has been proposed to prevent this process from exceeding two years.
[9]
Further complicating matters, energy infrastructure remains in incredibly short supply with turbine manufacturers struggling to keep up with demand.
In response, cloud providers including Amazon have begun turning to alternative energy sources to secure power for their facilities. Amazon last year [10]purchased Talen Energy's Cumulus datacenter campus next to a nuclear power plant, while Microsoft and Meta are also backing projects to [11]reignite or extend the life of aging reactors.
[12]Next-gen nuclear reactors safe enough to skip full environmental reviews, says Trump admin
[13]AI datacenter boom triples US gas power builds, filling the air with more CO2
[14]Uncle Sam dangles nuclear campuses for states while watering down safety rules
[15]Moscow likely behind wiper attack on Poland's power grid, experts say
We've also seen a flurry of interest in startups developing [16]small modular reactors (SMRs). These mini nuclear power plants could be deployed alongside datacenters if they can be made commercially viable.
With even the most optimistic SMR roadmaps pushing mass production out to the 2030s, a seven-year lead time on grid connections is probably the better deal for now.
The Register reached out to Amazon for comment on how it plans to address these grid challenges; we'll let you know if we hear anything back. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/power-grid-delays-challenge-amazons-data-center-expansion-europe-2026-02-03/
[2] https://www.iea.org/commentaries/overcoming-energy-constraints-is-key-to-delivering-on-europe-s-data-centre-goals
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/de9dea13-b07d-42c5-a398-d1b3ae17d866/EnergyandAI.pdf
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/nvidia_charts_course_for_600kw/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYJ-DDTVGpasd3I8RgihiQAAAsI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/04/amazon_acquires_cumulus_nuclear_datacenter/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/09/meta_nuke_deals/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/03/nextgen_nuclear_reactors_skip_nepa_reviews/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/29/ai_datacenter_boom_tripled_us_gas_power_builds/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/29/us_nuclear_campuses/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/moscow_likely_behind_wiper_attack/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/03/nextgen_nuclear_reactors_skip_nepa_reviews/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Opportunity Knocks !!!
Anonymous Coward
This is a perfect point for Musk to spend some of his 'spare' cash and start building out the power infrastructure for the National Grid et al, at a suitable price.
He could use the SpaceX mentality to do things quicker and boost the rollout of better power infrastructure ... someone needs to push the bounds of what can be done as 7 years plus is just too slow.
Of course, he may need to 'move quick & break things' BUT SpaceX is good at that as well !!!
[Keep holding the face straight ... just a little while longer ... hold it ... hold iiiit ... annnnnd relax !!! ]
:)
Then they should choose a region a bit off those centers...
Jou (Mxyzptlk)
...with enough space for their own solar + wind farm. Just 5 km² solar is enough. Batteries are cheap. It is not like A couldn't afford it, and it might even be cheaper than buying the electricity. (and probably be built quicker...) Spain has enough areas for such things.
Electricity?
ecofeco
I hear China is doing things with solar panel, batteries and wind these days.
Just a thought.
And finally
paluster
Perhaps this is where the bit barn fantics do the smart thing and try designing xhips that need less power and less cooling instead of expecting someone elsr to provude the water and electricity.
Your power or your life
Soon, men with hooded masks holding you hostage and demanding your grid connection...
Seriously, are there any who think that the AI bubble will last this many years? I don't think so and just lets hope the bubble will burst this year so power and memory will enter the sanity region of affordability again.