A proposed hyperscale datacentre in North Ockendon, outer London, would generate over 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, according to planning documents. Developed by Digital Reef, the £14.7bn project has sparked intense opposition from local residents and climate campaigners ahead of a pending council decision.
A massive hyperscale datacentre planned for outer London is drawing sharp scrutiny over its massive environmental footprint. The East Havering Data Centre Campus (EHDCC), proposed for a site in North Ockendon, would rank among the largest facilities of its kind in Europe if approved by Havering council. Planning documents reveal that the facility would consume 218 hectares of green belt land to operate servers and data storage systems dedicated to artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Developer Disclosures Clash With Net-Zero Targets
While its developer, Cryptobriefing, has pitched the facility as a “zero carbon facility,” the project’s own planning filings paint a starkly different picture. Within the formal application, the company acknowledges that the £14.7bn project does not align with a science-based 1.5C compatible trajectory and achieving net zero by 2050
.
Documents estimate the development will generate more than 72m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over a projected 60-year lifespan. Once fully operational, annual emissions would hit roughly 1.2m tonnes. According to a Guardian analysis of planning files for dozens of proposed UK datacentres, the EHDCC carries the highest projected carbon emissions disclosed by any developer.
To contextualize that scale, the projected annual emissions amount to the carbon footprint of 8,480 long-haul flights from London Heathrow to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, based on calculations from the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization. By 2038, the operational emissions alone are projected to consume nearly 20 times the entire carbon budget of the borough of Havering and approximately 1% of the entire UK carbon budget.
Scale of Energy Demand and Grid Upgrades
Powering the sprawling campus requires monumental electrical infrastructure. The proposal details a primary connection to the National Grid via the nearby Warley substation utilizing a massive 600MVA link. Because local capacity falls short, the plans incorporate major grid reinforcements, including a new 400kV National Grid substation and a 132kV UK Power Networks facility on adjacent land, with full integration anticipated by 2033.
At a likely
50% load, the campus would consume 2.65bn kWh of electricity annually, matching the energy demand of more than 1m UK households, based on Ofgem figures cited in the filings. The East Havering Data Centre campus footprint would cover about 175 hectares in North Ockendon, straddling the boroughs of Havering and Thurrock, with a core development area spanning roughly 40 hectares and total floorspace projected between 330,000 and 400,000 square meters.
“It’s a big threat to the ability to decarbonise in the UK, It’s also going to be a big drain on important resources that are needed by homes and other businesses.”
Donald Campbell, advocacy director at Foxglove
Donald Campbell, advocacy director at the tech justice nonprofit Foxglove, characterized the projected emissions as staggering
and argued that the public sector should not be left bearing the environmental burden of facilities serving the world’s wealthiest technology firms. Campbell noted that developers should be required to build equivalent renewable generation and storage to power their own operations.
Local Opposition and Financial Offsets
Residents and local preservation groups have mounted strong opposition to the development. Representatives from the North Ockendon Residents Association denounced the scheme as a massacre
of protected green belt land.
To address unavoidable environmental impacts, planning filings indicate that where on-site zero-carbon targets cannot be achieved, any shortfall would be provided through a cash in lieu contribution to the borough’s carbon offset fund
. The developer estimates that specific financial mitigation payment at roughly £77.6m.
Wider Regulatory Pressures on British Infrastructure
The planning clash highlights a broader national tension between the United Kingdom’s rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure and its legally binding climate obligations. The central government designated datacentres as critical national infrastructure
in 2024, placing them on parity with water, energy, and emergency services.
Government estimates from early 2025 indicate that datacentres consumed 2.5% of the UK’s electricity supply, a figure projected to quadruple by 2030. Meanwhile, Theguardian, the national grid operator, has warned lawmakers that developers requested 72.8GW of electricity connections by 2039, representing nearly 60% more power than the nation’s peak demand during the previous year.
Public consultation on the draft Local Development Order for the project concluded on April 12, 2026, following discussions that began in 2022. A final decision from Havering council regarding the development remains pending.
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