EIR - Data Centres in Ealing [Aug 2026]

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Please provide:

1. Any GLA assessment, model, or report regarding cumulative electricity demand from data centres in the OPDC area produced or updated between January 2024 and July 2026.
2. Any GLA assessment, model, or report regarding cumulative electricity demand from data centres in the London borough of Ealing produced or updated between January 2024 and July 2026.
3. Any underlying analysis, reports, or correspondence from 2025 to 2026 forming the basis for public statements that housing developments were being delayed due to electricity grid capacity issues in the London borough of Ealing.
4. Any correspondence between the GLA and the OPDC, Ealing Council, Brent Council, National Grid, UK Power Networks (UKPN), or Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) regarding data centre infrastructure planning and grid constraints dated within the last 12 months (July 2025 to July 2026).
5. Any GLA assessment of cumulative air quality impacts, nitrogen oxides (NOx), or heat island effects specifically linked to data centre clusters within the London borough of Ealing produced between 2024 and 2026.
6. Any updated GLA or OPDC assessments, feasibility studies, or correspondence produced since 2024 regarding the Park Royal Data Centre Waste Heat Network (originally mapped under OPDC decision CD169 in June 2022), including any records explaining why waste heat recovery has not been made a mandatory requirement for new data centre approvals in the cluster.

Our response

1. The GLA has published the ‘London’s Data Centre Future Growth Forecasts and Strategic Data Insights’ in June 2026 which includes analysis of connection queue data for electricity demand for operational and pipeline data centres. While this does not specifically provide figures for the OPDC area, it collates available network data to provide an understanding of cumulative electricity demand for data centres on the local electricity networks serving the OPDC area. 

2. The GLA has published the ‘London’s Data Centre Future Growth Forecasts and Strategic Data Insights’ in June 2026 which includes analysis of connection queue data for electricity demand for operational and pipeline data centres in the borough of Ealing.

3. Please confirm which public statements referring to housing development in the London borough of Ealing being delayed due to electricity grid capacity issues you wish to refer to? WE can then locate and retrieve information in relation to that statement. 

5. No GLA assessments have been carried out on the cumulative impact of data centres in Ealing on NOx concentration or heat island effects. The only information the GLA would hold on air quality impacts would be through planning documentation submitted for individual applications, the air quality assessments of which would consider cumulative effects relative to air quality limit value. However, these are not produced or commissioned by the GLA.

4 and 6

[Summarised]

This part of your request request falls under the exception to disclose because it is considered to be ‘manifestly unreasonable’ under regulation 12(4)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulation (EIR). This provision allows public authorities to refuse requests which are obviously or clearly unreasonable or when the estimated cost of compliance is too great.

In reaching this decision we have considered the views of the Upper (Information Rights) Tribunal in ‘Craven v IC & DECCC [2012] UKUT442 (AAC)’ in respect of the EIR exception under regulation 12(4)(b), the formal guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office, along with Decision Notices regarding this EIR exception, such as FS50585926, amongst others, which all acknowledge that public authorities may use the fees regulations as the basis of considering the cost and time of complying with a request.

A search of three staff accounts has returned approximately 2681emails potentially within the scope of your request, many of which also include attachments. Once the search has been expanded across other staff accounts, this figure is likely to increase significantly.