IT contractors specialising in cloud computing have been warned that widespread adoption could be restricted by access to power.

According to global IT services and business consultancy firm Capgemini, certain large data centres may encounter problems when trying to power their units.

The National Grid must therefore make efforts to improve infrastructure or Britain will get left behind in the shift to virtualised networks, claims Capgemini programme director for infrastructure outsourcing Paul Anderson.

He explained: "We have had a world of pain in working with utilities to get power on a site which doesn't have it.

"If cloud really goes where it might go, we'll never get half full, because we'll never get the rest of the power we need."

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), energy secretary Chris Huhne recently announced that local councils will be able to help with Britain's energy problems, as laws which banned the sale of renewable energy back to the grid have been repealed.