UK industrial electricity sits around 20-28p/kWh in 2026 – higher than the US and much of continental Europe. This affects datacenter economics but not as dramatically as consumer rates suggest because our UK hosting operates at commercial bulk rates with long-term contracts.
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Rates
UK industrial (over 5GWh/year): typically 18-24p/kWh including climate levies. Large datacenter PPAs can secure 14-18p/kWh. This is roughly double typical US commercial rates.
Per-Server
A 5090-class server draws ~700 W average under AI load including CPU, memory, fans:
- Monthly kWh: 700 W × 24 × 30 / 1000 = 504 kWh
- At 18p/kWh: £91/month electricity alone
- Plus PUE overhead (cooling, conversion): multiply by ~1.3 = £118/month
Roughly 20-30% of a 5090 server’s effective monthly cost is power. Not trivial, but manageable.
Renewable Mix
UK’s 2026 grid is ~50-60% renewable on a generation basis, higher on best days. For UK-based AI workloads, the carbon intensity per token is structurally lower than in grids still dominated by fossil fuels. Useful for sustainability reporting and green-tech branding.
Offset
How we keep pricing competitive despite expensive UK power:
- Long-term PPAs smooth out wholesale volatility
- Efficient PUE (~1.3) reduces overhead
- Amortising hardware cost across multi-year contracts
- Power bundling in fixed monthly pricing – customers don’t pay peak rates on bad days
UK Dedicated GPU Hosting
Fixed monthly pricing that absorbs power volatility for you.
Browse GPU ServersSee CO2 footprint self-hosted and tokens per watt.
