Data centre pipeline exposes regional mismatch in electrical workforce

Wales has attracted 13% of recent data centre planning applications despite accounting for around 4% of Britain’s electrical-installation workforce, according to new analysis highlighting where construction demand could put pressure on specialist trades.

Horizon Platforms examined 678 full or outline data centre applications identified through the PlanIt planning database since 2000 and compared the recent pipeline with Office for National Statistics employment data covering 16 construction trades.

The company says the rate of applications has risen from an average of 14 a year in the 2000s to 44 a year during the current decade.

Of the 119 applications lodged since the beginning of 2024, 16 were in Wales. Horizon’s analysis of ONS Business Register and Employment Survey data puts the country’s share of Britain’s electrical-installation workforce at around 4%.

While it’s possible to get electricians from elsewhere in the country to cover the shortfall in Wales, it does highlight some of the regional disparities that have been raised before. After all, it’s no use having a bunch of electricians with nothing to do in Devon, while Wales is desperate for more. 

It’s why it’s important to not just look at the electrical skills shortage as a UK-wide issue, but also a local one. It’s expensive to import talent, even if it’s only coming from elsewhere in the country, and doesn’t benefit the local community in the same way as having homegrown talent. 

Wales isn’t the only area experiencing growing demand for data centres where electrical skills are in short supply, however. A second concentration is emerging around west London. Horizon identified 63 applications in its dataset awaiting a planning decision, with 13 located across Slough and surrounding parts of Buckinghamshire.

The area is already one of Britain’s main data centre markets and is driving additional investment in electrical infrastructure. National Grid began construction of the Uxbridge Moor substation last year, with the project expected to provide 1.8GW of additional grid capacity and connect more than a dozen data centres.

Despite the investment, however, the city is still struggling to find enough people with the electrical skills to deliver these complex data centre projects. In fact, Turner & Townsend recently found that 100% of its UK respondents were experiencing shortages of qualified mechanical, electrical and plumbing workers. 

Marco Maccio, Marketing and Digital Director at Horizon Platforms, noted, “Much of the talk around the UK’s data centre boom so far has been around planning permission and the water needed to run them, but each and every one of these businesses needs people to physically build and maintain them.

"There isn't a separate army of data centre electricians and engineers waiting around for these projects to begin. They're the same group of people currently busy fitting out hospitals, schools, offices, factories and shops.

"The projects will no doubt still be built, but it will most likely mean contractors moving their crews across the country, which, while not uncommon in the construction trades, is perhaps less expected when you have several major developments all competing for the same people at the same time.

"As it stands, 13 schemes are waiting for decisions in one corridor just west of London. If several decide to start construction together, they'll all be fighting over the same contractors, and we could see bidding wars for the most in-demand trades, placing extra pressure on completing projects. Something that can come with safety risks.”