Rethinking Grid Connections for the AI Era with Paul Manning (NovoGrid)

Aug 21, 2025

Paul Manning, Co-founder and Commercial Director of Novogrid, dives into the challenges the energy grid faces from hyperscale data centres demanding gigawatts of power. He explains how traditional planning can't keep up and advocates for smarter, flexible connections to meet this massive demand. Discussions include the bottlenecks in transformer production, the strategic benefits of on-site storage for reliability, and innovative funding ideas for grid upgrades. Manning highlights the need for real-time data and managed curtailment to build a dynamic electricity system.

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INSIGHT

Gigawatt Data Centres Are Country-Scale Demand

Hyperscale data centres request gigawatt connections that rival a small country's decade demand.
Connecting these at traditional firm standards will be infeasible without new approaches.

ADVICE

Choose Flexible Connections To Speed Up Access

Use non-firm (flexible) connections to speed up grid access for large data centres.
Plan computational loads to match grid availability and accept quantifiable curtailment risk.

INSIGHT

Five-Nines Achieved By Overprovisioning Not Constant Use

Data centres achieve high uptime by overbuilding redundancy across multiple sites, not by constantly using full connection capacity.
That redundancy model becomes impractical at gigawatt scale.

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The energy grid is facing a new kind of challenge: enormous, fast-arriving demand from hyperscale data centres, driven by AI and digitalisation.

These “giga-campuses” are no longer talking about tens of megawatts they’re applying for a gigawatt of capacity in a single location.That’s the same scale of demand Portugal expects to add across the entire country over a decade - now requested in one UK town.

For National Grid, developers, and policymakers, the question is urgent: how do you connect this demand without waiting 15 years for traditional reinforcements?

It is increasingly clear that the future of large-scale demand isn’t just about building faster, it’s about building smarter. Flexible connections, real-time load management, and accurate grid modelling will be essential to connect AI-era demand without crippling the network or wasting resources.

In this episode of Transmission, Ed sits down with Paul Manning, Commercial Director at Novogrid, about how real-time data and control can transform grid operations. From improving renewable integration to reducing connection delays, they explore the technology, market design, and operational shifts needed to build a more dynamic and efficient electricity system.

⚡ Why hyperscale data centres break the old rules for grid planning and capacity allocation.

⚡The bottleneck: why firm connections could delay projects for over a decade.

⚡ Flexible (non-firm) connections as a faster route and what this means for data centre operations.

⚡ How to align computational load with grid availability to avoid stranded assets and wasted capacity.

⚡ The role of grid analytics in de-risking curtailment and speeding up the transition

About the Guest

Paul Manning is Co-Founder and Commercial Director at Novogrid, a grid analytics company acquired by Danish energy services firm Opora. Novagrid specialises in modelling the energy grid and helping clients plan projects from “time zero” before a single cable is laid, to secure the best possible connection strategy. For more information, check out their website.

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