09.02.2026
The world now creates more than 400 million terabytes of data every day. Every major digital platform now depends on infrastructure that consumes power at industrial scale. AI models, financial markets, transport systems, healthcare platforms. None of it works without data centres. And data centres only scale when energy programmes stay in control.
Most data centre resourcing issues happen before site mobilisation even starts. This is why the energy delivery across the full lifecycle is key. As a Senior Consultant – Data Centres at Morson Edge, I know how important this is.
The rapid adoption of AI has pushed the global data centre sector into its fastest expansion cycle to date, demanding far more electricity than the grid can handle. Industry estimates suggest global capacity will need to roughly double by 2030. And that growth is already reshaping how energy infrastructure is planned, funded and delivered.
Yet as programmes scale, a familiar problem is emerging. Projects are not failing outright. They are losing control. But the issue isn’t in the demand. It is in energy delivery. When it becomes fragmented, risk shifts downstream, interfaces multiply and programme certainty erodes.
Energy is the deciding factor in whether major data centre programmes scale or stall. This is why, at Morson Edge, our energy capability exists to help clients manage energy delivery as a system rather than a sequence of packages.
When energy stops being a package
Data centres are still often treated as IT or property developments with an energy component attached. In reality, they are energy-intensive ecosystems where power, cooling, water, materials and workloads interact continuously.
That complexity matters. Data centres already consume more electricity than some countries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates annual consumption at around 415 terawatt-hours. AI workloads are pushing that figure sharply upwards, with individual hyperscale facilities requiring more than 100MW of capacity. That is equivalent to powering tens of thousands of homes.
The mistake many programmes make is treating energy as a sequence of disconnected packages. Grid connection, on-site generation, commissioning and operations are handed from one phase to the next. Risk moves downstream rather than being resolved early.
In the UK, where grid capacity is already constrained this creates a delivery challenge that goes far beyond site boundaries. New data centre developments place pressure on transmission networks, local planning systems and decarbonisation targets simultaneously. At the same time, this creates more opportunities in the smart grid engineering sector, as the infrastructure and AI data centre expand.
“When quality and commissioning are brought in too late, the outcome is usually the same: schedule slippage and additional cost. Construction teams will always push forward to protect the programme, which means issues are discovered later, when they are far more expensive to fix.”
Quality Lead at a multi-disciplined engineering contracting company
The decisions that quietly shape failure
Across large-scale energy and infrastructure programmes, the same pattern appears.
Energy decisions are made in isolation from delivery reality. Quality is inspected rather than designed in. Commissioning is mobilised late, once construction pressure is already high. By the time issues surface on site, the decisions that caused them are locked.
This is why experienced delivery teams focus on Stage 2. Stage 2 is where leadership structures, delivery behaviours and technical assumptions become fixed.
“Decisions made in Stage 2 shape how the project is built. Once construction accelerates, those decisions are difficult and costly to reverse. This is also the stage where workforce capability matters most. If labour is selected purely on cost rather than experience, particularly in a data centre environment, standards inevitably slip.”
Construction Lead at electrical and mechanical engineering company
By Levels 4 and 5, problems can become very difficult to fix. Early control can help prevent risk from becoming structural.
Commissioning is not the end of the programme
Commissioning remains one of the most underestimated phases in data centre delivery. It is often treated as a late-stage activity rather than a discipline that should influence design, sequencing and procurement from the outset. From my experience, recruiting quality and commissioning professionals for data centre projects, I know that prioritising commissioning programmes can make a real difference.
Effective programmes establish clearly defined leadership across MEP delivery, mechanical and electrical commissioning, mechanical and electrical quality, QA/QC inspection and project engineering support from Stage 2 onward.
When those roles are aligned early, commissioning becomes predictable. When they are not, it becomes the point where every unresolved decision converges at once.
“When commissioning is engaged late, it does not control readiness, it absorbs the consequences of earlier decisions. At that stage, systems may be installed correctly but remain difficult or inefficient to test, which extends commissioning durations and increases pressure on handover milestones.”
Commissioning Manager at European construction company specialising in construction solutions
The cost difference is stark. Issues addressed early are manageable. Issues discovered during commissioning are programme-defining.
Energy transition adds another layer of risk
The wider shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy complicates the picture further.
Unlike other sectors, data centres cannot absorb fluctuations easily. They require stable, resilient power at scale. As grids decarbonise, programmes are increasingly exploring behind-the-meter generation, small modular reactors (SMRs), waste heat reuse and AI-driven energy management. Each offers an opportunity but also introduces new interfaces, governance challenges and delivery risk if not integrated properly.
Energy transition in data centres is about powering growth more intelligently. This means moving to clean energy through on-site renewables, smarter energy storage, and targeted grid upgrades. Locating data centres near renewable energy sources, or installing solar panels and wind turbines, reduces the reliance on the grid. Pair that with efficient cooling systems and high-efficient UPS, and energy waste drops fast.
Treating energy as a system, not a handover
Most data centre resourcing issues start long before site mobilisation. Tenders are won, timelines compress, and teams are built at speed. The result is familiar: recycled candidates, reduced confidence, poor visibility, and roles filled for availability rather than fit.
Morson Edge’s Energy team addresses this by acting as a delivery partner from the earliest stage, supporting tender planning, defining phase-specific skills, sequencing contract and permanent hires properly, and bringing quality and commissioning in early. We are building delivery teams structured to hold control under pressure.
The strongest programmes treat energy as a system, not a sequence of handovers. Assumptions are challenged early, engineering reflects build reality, delivery scales without losing control, and governance protects certainty before pressure arrives.
The distinction matters. Delivery confidence does not come from adding more people late. It comes from structuring capability and accountability properly from the start.
A sector that underpins everything
Data centres now sit beneath almost every critical system we rely on. From government services and financial markets to transport networks and social infrastructure, they are the unseen backbone of the modern economy. In the UK alone, each new facility contributes hundreds of millions of pounds in annual gross value added.
But the key aspect is the ability to deliver at pace without losing control. Over the coming months, attention will increasingly shift from how fast data centres can be built to how well energy delivery is governed across programmes. The projects that succeed will be those that treat energy not as a late-stage package, but as the organising system from day one.
Because in data centre delivery, failure rarely arrives with a bang. It shows up quietly. In risk that goes unmanaged for just a little too long.
Whether you’re a project director, commissioning manager or quality lead, looking for a recruitment partner who understands the challenges and technical details behind late stage mission critical projects, reach out to me at Ryan.Dickenson@morson.com.
With Morson Edge, you can choose a delivery partner who keeps certainty where it belongs.
