Two UK data centres could emit more carbon than ExxonMobil’s entire British output

Research from Foxglove indicates that the two upcoming data centres—Wapseys Wood in Buckinghamshire and Quest Park in Bedfordshire—will together demand 1.3 GW of electricity and release more than 4.5 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, outstripping ExxonMobil’s UK emissions of 3.9 million tonnes in 2023. The facilities plan to install their own gas-fired generators to bypass lengthy grid-connection queues, which currently hold 315 pending projects demanding 73 GW of capacity.

Government officials called the emissions figures “misleading” due to assumptions of 100 % utilisation from day one, while Foxglove and environmental advocates argue such assumptions follow industry norms. Critics, including former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas and Labour MP Toby Perkins, say the fast-tracked approvals under the NSIP regime send a dangerous signal and could jeopardise the UK’s legally binding climate goals. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero defended the projects as essential for economic growth and pledged clean-power development, though the developers declined comment.