Why the UK Data-Centre Boom Matters for Energy and Cooling Innovation

Google Data Centre in Hertfordshire, as one the many new data centres across the UK

According to recent reporting by BBC, the number of data centres in the UK is set to rise by nearly 20% over the next five years, with nearly 100 new sites planned to meet growing demand from AI, cloud services and digital infrastructure.

This surge in data centre construction presents a major challenge, and a compelling opportunity, for energy use, cooling requirements, and sustainable infrastructure. For a consultancy like Mansim, it underscores exciting potential for scaling up our work on advanced cooling systems, energy-efficient facility design, and renewable or low carbon power supply solutions.

Why the scale-up matters

• Massive energy demand: As more data centres come online, overall electricity consumption rises sharply. The increase in server count, AI workloads, and 24/7 operation will put growing pressure on the national grid and power supply systems.

• Cooling becomes a bottleneck: Data centres generate enormous heat loads. Traditional air cooling or conventional liquid cooling may struggle, especially with high density AI and high performance computing racks. As water and energy use increase, so does the environmental footprint.

• Grid & infrastructure strain: The aggregate demand, electricity, cooling water, climate control, might outpace existing infrastructure capabilities, especially in regions seeing clusters of data-centre development.

  
  

Where Mansim could add value

Mansim has developed expertise in both advanced thermal/fluid modelling and energy systems design, precisely the skills needed to meet the emerging demands of large scale data centre deployment. Our core strengths align closely with the challenges above:

• Next-gen cooling solutions: We're already working with partners on innovative cooling technologies, including two-phase cooling, microfluidic cooling, and heat exchanger optimisation, that can dramatically improve thermal efficiency and reduce power and water consumption.

• Energy supply & decarbonisation: As data centre demand grows, so does the need for reliable, clean power. Mansim’s background in modelling nuclear, hydrogen, and renewable-energy systems positions us to contribute meaningfully to sustainable data centre power strategies.

• System-level simulation & design: Our multiphysics simulation capabilities make us well-suited to design integrated solutions: combining cooling, energy supply, waste heat recovery, and environmental impact reduction in a holistic way.

• Scalability & early-stage engineering: With projects often requiring system-level feasibility studies before investment, Mansim can provide data-driven insight early, de risking projects and supporting fast, efficient deployment.

  
  

Long-term vision: data centres as part of a sustainable energy ecosystem

Rather than viewing data-centre expansion solely as a consumption challenge, we see an opportunity: to embed energy-efficient design, low-carbon power, and smart thermal management from the ground up. Potential pathways include:

• coupling data centres with waste-heat reuse (e.g. district heating, industrial heat recovery)

• integrating renewable energy generation or low-carbon supply (wind, nuclear, hydrogen) to power clusters

• deploying novel cooling systems, microfluidic, two-phase, hybrid systems — to reduce water and electricity demand.

• using digital twin + simulation to optimise layout, airflow, energy flows and environmental load before construction

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr9nx0jrzo#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20data%20centres,the%20UK%2C%20the%20data%20shows.