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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Matthew Pearce

Proposed London datacentre ‘incompatible’ with net zero with 1m-tonne carbon footprint

Aerial rendering of a proposed datacentre campus with warehouses amid Ockendon farmland
The proposed East Havering Data Centre Campus in North Ockendon would be one of the largest datacentres in Europe. Illustration: © Digital Reef 2026

A “hyperscale” datacentre in outer London would generate more than 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to the carbon footprint of 8,480 flights from London to New York, planning documents show.

The East Havering Data Centre Campus (EHDCC) in North Ockendon would be one of the largest datacentres in Europe if approved by Havering council, using 218 hectares of green belt to run servers and data storage systems for AI and cloud computing. Its developer, Digital Reef, has described the scheme as “a unique opportunity to create a sustainable datacentre campus of the future”.

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