--- title: "National Grid's first 1.44GW at Teesside is contracted to a rival's network, with no operator named" description: "National Grid bought 73 acres at Teesside for Britain's biggest substation, but the 1.44GW first tranche is contracted to a rival's private network and the data-center operator is still unnamed. Shares have run ahead of Thursday's results; the second tranche and the regulator's price are still open." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Power" published: 2026-11-02T20:07:46.088Z modified: 2026-11-02T20:07:46.088Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/national-grid-s-first-1-44gw-at-teesside-is-contracted-to-a-rival-s-network-with-no-operator-named language: en keywords: "National Grid, Grid, Data Centers, UK, Ofgem" --- # National Grid's first 1.44GW at Teesside is contracted to a rival's network, with no operator named > National Grid bought 73 acres at Teesside for Britain's biggest substation, but the 1.44GW first tranche is contracted to a rival's private network and the data-center operator is still unnamed. Shares have run ahead of Thursday's results; the second tranche and the regulator's price are still open. [National Grid](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/national-grid) has [agreed to buy 73 acres of a former steelworks on Teesside](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/26688848.70-acre-teesworks-deal-paves-way-uks-largest-substation/) to build Britain's biggest substation, and the first 1.44GW of its power is already contracted [1]. But read who signed: not a data-center operator, but Steel River Power, the private electricity network across the Teesworks estate, part-owned by a rival utility group [1][2]. The campus it would serve, spanning nearly 500,000 square metres, has no named tenant [3]. That gap, plus a regulator that sets what the build earns, is what the share price has to earn back: the stock has run from about 1,096p to about 1,252p ahead of Thursday's results [5]. ## A 1.44GW hub on reclaimed steelworks land Teesside Node A, thought to be worth over £200 million and [built by Balfour Beatty](https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2026/11/02/balfour-beatty-to-build-britains-biggest-substation-job/), sits on land National Grid bought from Teesworks, the public-private partnership that owns the former Redcar steelworks site [1][2][3]. Teesworks spends the next six months remediating the land, and the first 1,440MVA is due online by the end of 2029, with expansion to 3.2GW described as possible [1][2]. Every megawatt of the first tranche is contracted, which is what Britain's data-center queue has been unable to get. Mayor Ben Houchen's point is that [power, not planning, is the bottleneck that sent AI investment to Texas and Abu Dhabi](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/01/national-grid-to-site-biggest-substation-on-teesside-near-planned-ai-datacentre) [2][3]. *Chart: **Analysts see UK transmission as National Grid's largest revenue line** Bars comparing analyst-projected revenue for UK electricity transmission, UK distribution and US regulated operations at National Grid ahead of results.* *Analyst projections ahead of National Grid's results, in billions of pounds, as summarized in TradingView's weekly recap. Projections, not reported figures. [5]* ## The buyer is a rival's network, not a hyperscaler Steel River Power is a joint venture of Steel River Energy and North West Electricity Networks, part of the ScottishPower/Iberdrola group [1][2]. So National Grid builds the asset, a competitor's private network buys the power, and the eventual operator of the campus has not signed its name to anything [3]. [Microsoft already walked from one UK AI campus](https://www.theinference.co.uk/article/microsoft-quit-nscale-s-uk-ai-campus-over-power-not-due-until-the-2030s-national-grid-reports-november-5) because the power would not arrive until the 2030s ([6]); a contracted grid connection is the fix, but only once a paying operator exists at the end of it. ## What Ofgem allows decides what the build earns Cost recovery is the other open question. The same week, National Grid [committed up to £400 million to keep the IFA interconnector](https://www.energylivenews.com/2026/11/02/national-grid-to-invest-400-million-into-uk-france-electricity-link/), the subsea cable linking England and France, running to 2050 [4][5]. And [our October 28 reporting](https://www.theinference.co.uk/article/national-grid-quoted-1-1-billion-for-sea-link-to-planners-while-asking-its-regulator-for-2-567-billion) found the builder quoting planners £1.1 billion for the Sea Link cable while asking Ofgem, Britain's electricity regulator, for £2.567 billion ([7]). The gap between what a build costs and what the regulator allows decides whether it is an asset or a stranded one. My read is that the capability is real and the first tranche is contracted, but the last two hops are unbuilt: a named data-center operator, and an allowed revenue. Watch Ofgem's next determination and the day the campus operator is named; until then, buying the story into results means paying for capacity whose second half nobody has bought. ## Takeaway The 1.44GW first tranche at Teesside is contracted, but the buyer is a rival utility's private network, the data-center operator is unnamed, and Ofgem's allowed revenue is still open. ## Sources 1. [Construction Enquirer, Balfour Beatty to build Britain's biggest substation, 2 November 2026](https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2026/11/02/balfour-beatty-to-build-britains-biggest-substation-job/) 2. [The Northern Echo, 70-acre Teesworks deal paves way for UK's largest substation, 2 November 2026](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/26688848.70-acre-teesworks-deal-paves-way-uks-largest-substation/) 3. [The Guardian, National Grid to site biggest substation in UK near planned Teesside datacentre, 1 November 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/01/national-grid-to-site-biggest-substation-on-teesside-near-planned-ai-datacentre) 4. [Energy Live News, National Grid to invest £400 million into UK-France electricity link, 2 November 2026](https://www.energylivenews.com/2026/11/02/national-grid-to-invest-400-million-into-uk-france-electricity-link/) 5. [TradingView, Weekly Recap: Rise to ~1,252p and IFA £400m life-extension to 2050, 2 November 2026](https://www.tradingview.com/news/tradingview:994718e894766:0-weekly-recap-rise-to-1-252p-and-ifa-400m-life-extension-to-2050/) 6. [The Inference, Microsoft quit Nscale's UK AI campus over power not due until the 2030s; National Grid reports November 5, 22 October 2026](https://www.theinference.co.uk/article/microsoft-quit-nscale-s-uk-ai-campus-over-power-not-due-until-the-2030s-national-grid-reports-november-5) 7. [The Inference, National Grid quoted £1.1 billion for Sea Link to planners while asking its regulator for £2.567 billion, 28 October 2026](https://www.theinference.co.uk/article/national-grid-quoted-1-1-billion-for-sea-link-to-planners-while-asking-its-regulator-for-2-567-billion) --- National Grid's first 1.44GW at Teesside is contracted to a rival's network, with no operator named — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/national-grid-s-first-1-44gw-at-teesside-is-contracted-to-a-rival-s-network-with-no-operator-named