Executive Summary
- TwentyForty, in its ’12 Pillars of Change: Power In’ report, notes fears around capacity as electric trucks begin to rollout – as the industry waits for connections that are, largely, being left idle
- According to its analysis, of half-hourly utilisation figures for every data centre across UK Power Networks’ distribution network, the median site drew only 18% of the capacity it had contracted
- “What we’re asking for is not a new pot of money,” wrote Jamie Sands, founder of TwentyForty in the report. “It’s a system that stops handing the scarce thing to whoever booked it first, and starts handing it to whoever will use it”
TwentyForty, the freight industry body, has argued in a new report that grid connection delays are threatening the UK’s transition to electric trucks and eHGVs – while noting that a lot of the current reserved capacity remains unused.
The company, in its ’12 Pillars of Change: Power In’ report, has the numbers to back it up, based on UK Power Networks’ (UKPN) half-hourly utilisation figures for every data centre across its distribution network, covering London, the East and South East of England. According to TwentyForty’s analysis, across 96 sites since the beginning of 2023, the median site drew 18% of the capacity it had contracted, while nearly half of sites never topped 40% of what was booked.
This matches with UKPN’s own expectations, per their pre-publication assessment. “Freight, with an overnight duty cycle about as far from speculative as demand gets, waits behind reservations the meters say are mostly air,” TwentyForty notes.
This becomes a particular problem given the race is on for eHGVs. In China, December saw battery and hybrid trucks outsell diesel for the first time. In January, the UK government committed £18 million to slash up to £120,000 off the cost of green lorries as part of a wider £318m green freight investment – but as TwentyForty puts it, the demand is ticking on a ‘clock the UK doesn’t set’, with an 11 kV depot connection taking up to three years even in a working market.
The industry body is therefore advocating for a stronger hand from government. There are four specific asks: ‘mandating the offer of flexible and ramped connections for depot charging, through the Connect pillar of Ofgem’s demand-connections reform; putting transport decarbonisation inside the strategic-alignment criteria; making reforms proportionate for the brownfield owner-occupier; and giving commercial tenants a statutory right to install charging where they pay for it.’
“The strategic architecture being built on the Planning and Infrastructure Act puts data centres in the title and AI Growth Zones in the plan. EV charging hubs get one mention, in one consultation’s introduction, as an example of what could benefit. Freight depots get none,” TwentyForty argues. “The £4.5 billion of transmission reinforcement National Grid asked Ofgem for in June 2026 covers new generation, industry and data centres. EV charging isn’t mentioned.”
“What we’re asking for is not a new pot of money,” wrote Jamie Sands, founder of TwentyForty in the report. “It’s a system that stops handing the scarce thing to whoever booked it first, and starts handing it to whoever will use it.
“The trucks are coming on a date the country can’t move,” Sands added. “This is about being ready for them.”
