Global Switch signs Welsh wind power deal for AI hub

Global Switch has signed an eight-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with RWE to supply wind electricity from an onshore wind farm in Wales to its London Docklands data centre. The deal will provide around 70 GWh of electricity annually from the Brechfa Forest West onshore wind farm in south-west Wales.

Wind Supply

Brechfa Forest West, which entered service in 2018, has 28 turbines and a generation capacity of 57.4 MW. The agreement runs from January 2026 until 2033, linking a single renewable generation asset with a large London data centre campus operated by Global Switch.

PPAs have become a common route for large electricity users to secure renewable output over multiple years, complementing grid-based supply and tariff products used by industrial and commercial customers.

Data Centre Demand

The deal comes amid rising electricity demand in the data centre sector, driven by high-density computing and AI workloads. Operators have faced constraints on new connections and upgrades in parts of the UK grid, particularly around London and the South East.

RWE framed the agreement in the context of digitalisation and AI, noting that the number of data centres and their energy requirements are growing, with some operators already relying on low-carbon electricity from RWE. Global Switch linked the agreement to its corporate renewable energy target, calling it a critical step toward purchasing 100% renewable energy by 2030 and setting new standards for sustainable data centres.

London Campus

The London Docklands data centre has access to 224 Mega Volt Ampere of secured power (around 224 MW) and is undergoing densification and expansion, with a focus on AI infrastructure. CoreWeave selected the site to host one of Europe's largest deployments of NVIDIA H100 and H200 GPUs. The campus has also showcased liquid cooling technologies, reflecting the growing thermal requirements of GPU-heavy systems and higher rack densities.

Targets and Standards

Global Switch targets 100% renewable energy by 2030 and an annualised power usage effectiveness of 1.2 across its European sites. Its emissions reduction targets received approval from the Science Based Targets initiative in 2025, and its sites joined the voluntary European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centres initiative.

RWE Investments

RWE, the UK's largest power generator and a renewable energy business, is investing billions in expanding its generation portfolio, including offshore and onshore wind, solar energy, and battery storage. The company also highlighted its global energy trading business and expects electricity demand to rise due to AI and electrification.

The agreement exemplifies a growing trend of data centre operators contracting renewable output over multiple years as part of long-term energy planning and emissions reduction strategies.