Data fog in Britain’s electricity grid is costing the country billions and choking the rollout of everything from AI data centres to EV hubs.
That is the punchline of a new report from energy-tech startup Yottar which claims the country is losing up to £4.69bn a year because developers cannot see where power is actually available.
The issue is simple. Grid capacity data is patchy slow and inconsistent so projects chase the wrong sites and waste cash on dead-end applications while locations with real capacity sit untouched.
That means delayed investment oversized grid works higher curtailment costs and wasted effort across solar storage industry and public estates.
This has now triggered a coordinated push.
A cross-sector coalition spanning tech energy property industry and clean-power groups has written to Ofgem calling for a rapid clean-up of grid data.
They want accurate standardised capacity information published across all networks with the worst gaps closed inside a year and critical datasets released within three months.
Developers say they are not asking for fancy software. They just want the raw data so innovators can build tools that show where power can be connected and when.
Without that clarity Britain’s growth sectors lose momentum and the grid becomes a brake not a boost.
The report highlights four pressure points. Investment slows because no one knows which sites are viable. Reinforcement costs rise when assets are built in the wrong places. System balancing and constraint costs climb when projects crowd into congested areas. And developers burn cash on repeated studies and redesigns as they chase shifting capacity signals.
The coalition argues that fixing visibility is the fastest cheapest way to unlock private capital. Clear grid data means faster connections lower system costs and smarter siting for renewables storage data centres and industry.
Grid data clutter costing us £4bn appeared first on Energy Live News.