Powering the 2035 industrial and data-driven revolution

The energy and real estate worlds need to coalesce to attract the investment for infrastructure the UK needs, says Peter Rolton.

Rolton recently launched its white paper focused on delivering sustainable energy and infrastructure in the UK. Developed through roundtable discussions, the paper recognises the role our energy and infrastructure industry plays in competitiveness and highlights what needs to be done to break down the barriers to investment.

Our first roundtable coincided with the announcement that Blackstone, with partner QTS, was investing £10 billion to build one of Europe’s largest AI data centres in Blyth, Northumberland.

We facilitated this landmark project to revitalise the former Britishvolt site, provide the infrastructure investment upon which to build the wider economic activity, strengthen the UK’s standing in the global AI sector and put up to £38 billion into the local economy.

Projects like this raise important questions about the role of sustainable energy and infrastructure in attracting investment to the UK, and the challenges of powering the industrial and data-driven needs of the future.

The government has been consulting on a 10-year plan for the UK’s modern industrial strategy, Invest 2035, which highlights the challenges many businesses are facing, and highlights the barriers to domestic and inward investment. These include the fact that UK energy prices are uncompetitive and are affecting growth, the level of support for large strategic projects lags behind other nations, grid access needs to be improved, and a broader mix of energy types is required.

Moving the focus to renewables

I was an adviser to the UK government when the EU Renewable Energy Directive came into force in 2009 with its target of 20% renewable energy by 2020. It was always my view that we needed to engineer the solution with better technologies, a viable business case, and a strategy to reduce costs with scale. We need to remove the emphasis on net zero and move the focus (and rhetoric) to using renewables to deliver solutions which are good for business and deliver energy efficiency and cost savings for homeowners too. An example of this would be decentralisation and microgrid approaches.

Overcoming barriers requires bold plans, involving the private and public sectors to deliver impacts that last longer than individual governments. It requires better funding, a focus on R&D and technology adoption, joined-up planning strategies, and the development of the right skills in the sector.

Demonstrating that the UK is open for business and the best place to invest also requires a proactive approach, such as creating ‘shovel-ready’ sites and streamlining processes for major projects, as well as making the allocation of government funding quicker, less bureaucratic and less risk-averse.

Energy is part of the conversation

For too long, the world of energy and infrastructure has been leading the conversation on macro-energy strategy. Historically, real estate largely ignored energy and running costs because it was not significant enough to be of concern. Today, energy is a big part of the conversation and tenants are now as concerned about energy costs as they are about lease terms or rent.

Energy strategy needs to be part of the conversation at the early development stages to make projects stack up. For example, by bringing local generation into our own portfolios and by supporting the development of decentralised infrastructure, we can take responsibility for our own power. To deliver effectively, these worlds must come together to create an environment where there are productive conversations about solutions and the investment required.

Peter Rolton is chairman of Rolton

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