Six-year grid queues push datacenters to build their own power plants

Waiting for a new high-voltage grid connection in major markets has stretched to five or six years, with some requests quoted beyond 2030, while a datacenter shell takes 18–30 months to build. Operators are increasingly turning to on-site generation, which costs 1.4–1.7 times a grid contract but arrives years earlier.

• Grid interconnection waits reach five to six years, some requests beyond 2030
• On-site generation costs 1.4–1.7 times a grid contract per MWh
• Behind-the-meter capacity could reach a fifth to a third of new datacenter capacity by 2030
• Load flexibility of about 10% is becoming a tradeable asset in the queue