Evidence behind the atlas.
A project rating, a planning decision and a live measurement answer different questions. Octary keeps their definitions and dates visible.
Coverage and publication dates
The renewable register contains 14,657 records from the July 2026 DESNZ Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD). The edition was checked on 2026-10-08. It tracks renewable electricity and storage projects over 150 kW, with reduced coverage of smaller historical schemes. It is a quarterly planning snapshot, not a live construction feed.
Data-centre and cable coverage is an editorial selection of identified developments and operating assets. It is not a complete UK data-centre census or an exhaustive inventory of local network works. The separate power stations atlas covers conventional, nuclear and historical assets. IrelandβFrance Celtic is included for neighbouring-market context and is not counted as a British connection.
REPD rows represent applications and development phases. Linked reapplications, storage co-location records and extensions can refer to the same wider site. Their capacities should not be summed as a national fleet total without deduplication.
Capacity and electricity consumption
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Generation MW | Rated generating power. Actual output varies with conditions and availability. |
| Transfer MW | A cable or interconnectorβs power-transfer capability. It is not new electricity generation. |
| IT MW | Data-centre computing load capacity. Cooling and other facility loads are additional. |
| Grid MW | Specified real-power connection or import allocation. It may be reserved before energisation. |
| MVA | Apparent power. MW = MVA Γ power factor; MVA is not automatically equal to MW. |
| Battery MW / MWh | Maximum charge/discharge power / stored energy. Nominal duration = MWh Γ· MW. |
| PUE | Total facility electricity divided by IT electricity over the same period and boundary. |
| GWh/year | Annual energy use or output. A full-year scenario is average MW Γ 8,760 Γ· 1,000. |
A proposal or power reservation has no verified current consumption unless an operating meter or an attributable published energy report is available. Unknown figures are left blank rather than converted to zero. The scenario calculator labels assumptions explicitly.
Status rules
Operating, main construction, enabling works, consent and planning are separate stages. Early surveys or supplier contracts do not prove main construction. First power can precede full commissioning. Withdrawn, refused, expired and superseded planning records remain accessible as history but are excluded from active listings and search-engine sitemaps.
A newer developer announcement can explain a pause or changed programme while a planning register retains consent. Both dates and sources are shown; the planning status is not silently replaced by an unreviewed headline.
Live data and update feeds
The Carbon Intensity API provides Great Britain carbon intensity and fuel-mix intervals. Actual intensity is shown separately from the forecast and can be unavailable. The feed is cached for five minutes, dated and marked stale when older data is returned. It does not show site meters or individual cable flow.
Source headlines are refreshed separately from project facts. An RSS item does not automatically change a projectβs capacity or planning status. Source checks flag changed documents for editorial review. REPD can be refreshed from its official publication using the supplied scheduled job.
There is no universal public live feed covering the electricity consumption of every private data centre. Renewable agreements may use certificates, annual matching or private wires; none is reported as hourly carbon-free physical supply without evidence.
Primary sources and licences
- DESNZ renewable planning database β Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains public-sector information licensed under the OGL v3.0.
- National Grid Great Grid Upgrade, SSEN Transmission and SP Energy Networks β project stages and routes.
- Developer, operator and planning-authority documents β attributed on individual profiles.
- Government estimate of Great Britain data-centre capacity in 2024 β historical benchmark, not a 2026 live count.
- Scottish Government, 17 August 2026 β planning authorities must notify Ministers of new data-centre applications within seven days of validation.
Coordinates in renewable records are derived from official grid references. They identify recorded locations and are not surveys of boundaries, cable routes or access rights.