Guest blog: Weathering the storm - data centres and climate risk in the UK

Data centres play a critical – yet largely invisible – role in our digital systems. Businesses and society alike are dependent on the technologies that require the dedicated computing environments our sector provides.

Unfortunately, the complexity of systems means that it is often hard to foresee the full extent of implications until a failure is experienced. Many data centres support a vast array of different users and processes with no single player having an overview of the combined impact of that outage. Of course, the extent of disruption would depend on the facility’s scale, what it is used for, and whether the failure is momentary, prolonged, or catastrophic. Against this backdrop, it’s clear why the recent Critical National Infrastructure designation was brought about, and why the sector embeds risk and resilience at the core of design and operational expectations.

The technologies at the centre of our digital systems fundamentally need stable power, cooling, connectivity, and controlled air (or coolant) quality, all of which are sensitive to changes in climate and extreme weather.

Thinking about acute physical risks from our changing climate, data centres should encompass several aspects into their risk assessment, such as higher peak temperatures, which can knock out under-specified or aged cooling systems, and extreme winds and rain – seen with Storm Éowyn- which can damage building fabric and result in water ingress with the potential to cause service disruption.

Other disasters linked to climate change are also increasing in frequency. For example, the recent wildfires seen in LA warn us about the extent of destruction possible on the urban fringe, and even in the UK, our exposure to fire risk is increasing2. Chronic physical risks include increasing water scarcity. Not all facilities utilise water for cooling, but even so, the expectation to disclose the extent of water use and justify or mitigate it, is growing.

Given the complexities around maintaining an optimal environment for computing hardware, providing and maintaining resilient data centres is a specialist sector. Operators vary in scale from enterprise-level to multi-tenanted colocation centres to vast hyperscale facilities occupied by technology giants. While there is variety between facilities, well-managed data centre space embeds resiliency into its design and operation. For example, flood risk is a key consideration in location choice, and infrastructure design is specified from the outset against various levels of redundancy.

Despite comprehensive risk management, data centre operators will stop fractionally short of absolute uptime assurances, and therefore best practice for clients with high resiliency requirements has always been to deploy secondary, geographically separate locations for additional protection in case of data centre outage. However, with an estimated 80% of UK data centre capacity located in the Greater London area3 there could be room for improvement in geographic diversity. TechUK’s report calls for greater consistency around the planning process. Better planning for regional digital infrastructure, and development of key STEM skills to address skills shortages, as well as the availability of grid electricity, are strong attractors to data centres and could improve geographical diversity.

Specialist data centre facilities are likely to consider physical risks within their abilities to mitigate, but systemic transitional risks are more complicated to predict. Climate-related transitional risks merge with other risks associated with resource scarcity, geopolitical landscapes and relationships, corporate moves, electricity infrastructure constraints, regulatory reporting pressures, skills shortages, and investor expectations. The consequences of transitional risk are more often economic than catastrophic, but as we consider pressures to protect the security and sovereignty of our data, measures that Government can take to retain the UK’s data centre capacity and support supply chains is key.

In the hardware supply chain, everything that is necessary for the operation of a data centre is a complex technology, vulnerable to disruption by international events. In fact, very little in a UK data centre is locally made. Looking back on the 2022-2023 global chip shortages, the availability of IT hardware was massively affected, resulting in uncertainty at a wider project level.

Perhaps the biggest transitional risk is around energy supply. New connections for sites capable of supporting condensed power demands will put even more pressure on the grid as we shift away from fossil fuels. The consistent and persistent day-and-night energy consumption of data centres is not well matched with the intermittent nature of wind and solar generation.

We also need to look for how a data centre infrastructure might present opportunity in the transition to renewable power and our drive for energy sovereignty. Can data centres locate themselves in areas that can utilise excess renewable energy? Can we send waste heat to support district heat networks or other uses? Can energy storage and generation needs of data centres also be used for the benefit of the grid without threatening site resilience? These questions need some system-level thinking and collaboration that in many cases goes beyond the data centre operator in isolation but could unlock significant energy and value.

As the digital world continues to expand, the role of data centres becomes ever more vital—both as critical infrastructure and as a linchpin for innovation. However, the path forward is not without challenges. From acute physical risks driven by climate change to complex systemic risks tied to global supply chains and energy transitions, resilience must remain a core focus. TechUK’s report presses the government to facilitate better collaboration with data centres throughout its departments. With support to embrace sustainable practices and collaborative, system-level thinking, the data centre industry has an opportunity to not only mitigate risks but also drive broader benefits for society and the environment. Preparing for the future means building smarter, more adaptive, and more resilient facilities that power the digital economy reliably and responsibly.

Climate, Environment and Sustainability Programme activities

The techUK Climate Programme provides opportunities for members to present tech solutions that assist carbon emission reduction, circularity, and human rights goals. We also help our members with their own net zero transition, including measurement, implementation, compliance, and reporting. Visit the programme page here.