Grid constraints are slowing down AWS infrastructure plans across Europe – and research shows it's only going to get worse

Efforts by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to expand data center infrastructure across Europe face severe delays due to sluggish grid connection practices, a senior company figure claims.

In a recent interview with Reuters, Pamela MacDougall, AWS’ head of energy markets for EMEA, said the length of time it takes to get a connection to energy grids had become a major factor when deciding where to invest in new infrastructure.

Indeed, she said delays in Europe had hampered plans by the company to build data centers in high-demand regions, warning that delays were “challenging our growth aspirations."

"There's a misalignment. We want to expand and grow within two years,” MacDougall said. However, the AWS exec noted that grid connections can take up to seven years in Europe.

Last year, power constrains forced AWS to reportedly scrap plans for an industrial plant in Ballycoolin, Ireland that was going to build server racks.

Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that securing a grid connection ranges from two to ten years, depending on the country. MacDougall added that the problems weren't limited to a few countries.

"We're finding more and more across Europe that certainty of the delivery date has continued to be delayed."

An AWS spokesperson told ITPro it’s charging with plans to "rapidly expand its infrastructure across Europe, with ongoing investments in edge locations and data center regions in more than 20 countries”.

“We remain committed to expanding at pace to meet growing customer demand,” the spokesperson added.

Figures published as part of Amazon's Q3 2025 earnings report revealed the firm had added more than 3.8 gigawatts of power in the 12 months prior. The spokesperson told ITPro it plans to continue adding capacity across 2026 and into 2027.

AWS isn’t alone in grid woes

The IEA noted last year that the data center project pipeline equals 130% of existing capacity – but based on its own modelling, capacity will likely grow by just 70% because of delays and power constraints.

One solution is building data centers in regions with existing grid capacity, rather than focusing on existing hubs as is normally the case. The IEA added that smart grid tech can help boost capacity while battery systems can help balance demand, but noted that further investment in transmission infrastructure remains necessary.

Indeed, it's not just Europe that is struggling to keep up with data center power demands. The US is also facing "significant concerns" over the impact of data center growth on regional energy grids.

In the UK, the situation is much the same. In 2024, former National Grid CEO John Pettigrew called for "bold action" to boost energy infrastructure to keep up with surging power demands.

"Future growth in foundational technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing will mean larger scale, energy-intensive computing infrastructure," Pettigrew told attendees at the Aurora Spring Forum in Oxford.

This predicament for big tech shows no signs of improving any time soon, either, and experts have warned aging energy grids could pose a serious challenge to ambitious infrastructure projects.

Two-fifths of data centers have faced power constraints, according to research from Gartner, while analysis by McKinsey projects data center energy demands to triple by the end of the decade.

Big tech courts alternative energy sources

Big tech companies such as AWS, Microsoft, and Google have all been exploring alternative energy sources to power infrastructure projects.

While renewables have been a long-term focus for cloud computing providers, the advent of generative AI – and the associated pressure on data center infrastructure – brought nuclear power back into vogue.

AWS, for example, shelled out $650 million for a data center co-located with a nuclear power plant – though the project faced significant pushback from regulators.

Elsewhere, Microsoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with energy provider Constellation in a move that will power data centers with nuclear energy.

The partnership involves the reopening of ‘Unit 1’ of the ‘Three Mile Island’ site in Pennsylvania.

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