Microsoft has terminated its agreement to anchor Nscale's planned £2 billion data center in Loughton, Essex. Grid delays pushed power for the site into the 2030s. Nscale is preparing a New York Stock Exchange listing, and Microsoft accounted for approximately $43.8 billion of its $103.4 billion backlog.
Microsoft has terminated its agreement to anchor Nscale's planned £2 billion data center in Loughton, Essex. Nscale is preparing a New York Stock Exchange listing. The cause is the electrical grid, not chips, demand or a boardroom dispute.
Grid delays push Loughton power into the 2030s
Under the original plan, Microsoft would lease 23,000 Nvidia AI chips at the Loughton facility. The site was designed to deliver about 90 MW of power and was slated to open in 2027.
That schedule has collapsed. UK Power Networks will not be able to supply sufficient power until the early to mid-2030s, according to the source's research findings, which describe the grid connection problems as severe.
Loughton now has no announced customer. Nscale says it remains committed to the project and is looking for alternative power sources.
Microsoft's share of the Nscale backlog
The cancellation comes while Nscale works toward its listing. The company is targeting a $35 billion valuation and aims to raise $3 billion, and it filed its S-1 registration statement on September 18, 2026.
Nscale reports a contracted backlog of $103.4 billion, of which Microsoft accounted for approximately $43.8 billion. However, the company currently operates about 55 MW of capacity in Europe against a much larger pipeline of projects, so most of the contracts behind that backlog are not live yet.
Loughton is not the only site running behind. At Nscale's flagship facility in Glomfjord, Norway, just 6.4 MW is live out of a planned 30 MW, and delays there have already triggered penalties.
What investors may watch next
For anyone sizing up the planned listing, the central issue is how much of the backlog Nscale can deliver, and on what timeline. The research findings suggest the cancellation may dampen confidence in the company's ability to turn its backlog into revenue.
Watch how the S-1 and any amended filings describe the Loughton situation, the Glomfjord penalties and the composition of the remaining backlog.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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