The question behind the study
A zoned site, a planning consent and a grid connection describe different stages of a data centre or battery project. This proposed study would put those stages on a common project register for urban and industrial sites, and map where they meet the transmission and distribution network. The objective is to identify the evidence required to distinguish a credible delivery case from an announcement.
Proposed analytical approach
- Geospatial joins between project locations, published network assets and planning records, retaining location precision and source dates.
- Project-level delivery scenarios with separate planning, funding and connection evidence. Missing queue positions or network headroom would remain gaps.
- Comparison of disclosed industrial site transactions and project economics, holding sites with and without a secured connection on separate bases.
Intended outputs
- A documented spatial dataset and interactive map.
- A project evidence register and deliverability scenarios.
- A methods note explaining spatial matching, uncertainty and what counts as a powered site.
Decision relevance
Support for examining site selection and delivery assumptions for data centre and battery projects. Project probabilities would be model assumptions, with no assertion of network capacity that the published evidence cannot establish.
Evidence requirements and limits
Connection agreements, queue positions and usable network headroom may be confidential. A public-data map would not certify connection availability or replace network-provider due diligence.