Joint press release from APRS and ERCS
An environmental charity has revealed that the energy demand from data centres currently in the Scottish planning system is between 4450 MW and 4950 MW, which is larger than the winter peak electricity demand for the whole of Scotland [1]. Information collected by Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) from the planning portals of Scotland’s local authorities found 17 hyperscale data centres at various stages of the planning process [2] and many others at earlier stages. None have yet received a decision on whether or not they have planning permission.
This rush of applications is related to the exponential growth of AI and the processing power that it demands. UK Government and Scottish Government estimates give a figure of 10-30 MW for 2024 data centre capacity in Scotland. [5] Three quarters of the data centre electricity demand comes from planning applications from just one company.
Today, in a letter to the Scottish Government environmental charities Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) and the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) call for an urgent response to the threat these data centres pose to Scotland’s energy security, energy prices and climate targets.
APRS and ERCS are calling on the Scottish Government to pause all applications to give time to examine the implications for Scotland’s energy grid, energy prices and net zero targets, as well as other impacts on the environment and on local communities.
It isn’t just energy impacts. Data centres have sent domestic electricity bills skyrocketing in the US, and in Spain and the US there have been serious implications for ground water. In London housebuilding in three London boroughs is constrained by a lack of capacity in the energy grid caused by data centres.[3]
In the letter to Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee, who is responsible for planning, the charities express concern that data centres are not routinely required to produce an Environmental Impact Assessment. Of the five data centres that have reached that stage in the planning process, only one has been required to provide an Environmental Impact Assessment.
The situation is compounded by a recent answer to a parliamentary question related to National Priority 12 of the National Planning Framework, which is about delivering a digital fibre network. This priority refers to ‘green data centres’ which contribute to the digital fibre network, and the parliamentary question revealed that the Scottish Government considers all ‘green data centres’ to be contributing to the fibre network. It also revealed that there are no specific criteria to determine what qualifies as a ‘green data centre’[4].
Dr Kat Jones, Director of APRS said:
“This is a critical moment. Any one of these humongous data centres would use the energy of an entire city, and some considerably more. These are all going through local planning processes with no overview as to their effect on the country as a whole.
“We are in the ludicrous situation that the data centres currently in Scotland’s planning system would more than double the country’s energy use if they were built. This is evidently impossible, and yet it is entirely possible that we will see these data centres consented by local councils, without even requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment.
“We have a window of opportunity for sense to prevail, but it is urgent. Once planning applications go in there is generally only 21 days for the public and communities to object. We need the Government to press pause on this so we can step back from actions that will have serious consequences for Scotland’s energy security, household energy prices and climate targets.”
Dr Ben Christman, Legal Director of ERCS said:
“‘Green data centres’ have a privileged position in our planning system, because they are classed as ‘national developments’ in National Planning Framework 4.
“Unfortunately, ‘green data centres’ is a meaningless term. The lack of a clear definition opens the door to developments which will cause significant harm to the environment and society.
“We are asking the Scottish Government to establish a moratorium on granting planning permission for data centres until they publish clear guidance on what constitutes a green data centre. That guidance must prohibit data centres which adversely affect our climate commitments and damage local environments and communities.”
Contact
For enquiries Call APRS on 0131 225 7012 and dial 1 for media
Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) is Scotland’s countryside charity. We campaign to protect, enhance and promote Scotland’s countryside and rural landscapes for everyone’s benefit. Our interest in data centres comes with the vast energy requirements and the impacts it will have on our climate targets as well as the additional energy infrastructure that it will need in our landscapes and countryside. www.aprs.scot
The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) is an environmental law charity. We carry out advocacy in policy and law reform to improve environmental rights, and full compliance with the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice on environmental matters.https://www.ercs.scot
Notes:
[1] Scotland’s current winter peak gross demand is just over 4 GW NESO (National Energy System Operator).
[2] Table of Hyperscale Data Centres in the Scottish Planning System
| Site Name | Location (Local Authority) | Developer | Capacity MW | Stage of planning | Planning Reference |
| Ravenscraig (west) | North Lanarkshire | Apatura | 550 | EIA screening | 25/00556/EIASCR 25/00838/PAN |
| Apatura Borders | Borders | Apatura | 300 | EIA screening | 25/00556/SCR |
| Data vita Fortis North Lanarkshire (extension) | North Lanarkshire | data Vita | 40 | Planning application | 25/00150/FUL |
| Apatura Drumshangie Greengairs | North lanarkshire | Apatura | 500 | Pre-Planning | 24/01025/PAN |
| Killean AI Growth centre/ Sovereign iCloud Argyll | Argyll | Argyll Development and SambaNova | 100-600 | Planning permission for building granted but not clear whether data centre has permission or funding. | 25/00445/CLAWU 20/00229/PP building control 23/00484/NDOM7/S1 |
| Cato Data Centre Campus (Auchertool) | Fife | ILI Group | 600 | EIA Screening | 25/00552/PAN 25/03079/SCR |
| Rufus Data Centre Campus (ILI Group) | East Ayrshire | ILI Group | 540 | pre-application | 25/0008/PREAPP |
| Aurelius Data Centre Campus (ILI Group) | North Lanarkshire | ILI Group | 400 | pre-application | 25/00989/PAN |
| South Gyle | Edinburgh | ShelbornDrummond Ltd | 212.42 | Planning application | 25/04239/PPP |
| Wester Hermiston | Edinburgh | Apatura | 200 | EIA screening | 25/02924/SCR 25/03978/PAN |
| Free Port | West Lothian | Apatura | 250 | pre-application consultation | https://consult.apatura.energy/freeport |
| Westerhill | East Dumbartonshire | Apatura | 300 | pre-application consultation | https://consult.apatura.energy/westerhill |
| Haspielaw | South Lanarkshire | Apatura | not listed | EIA screening | P/25/0490 |
| Ochiltree (Creoch) | East Ayrshire | Apatura | 200 | EIA screening | 25/0003/EIASCR |
Total Capacity: 4092 plus between 100 & 600 MW for the Argyll Centre and added 350 MW average size for the one that doesn’t have a listed capacity.
Therefore total capacity of data centres in the Scottish Planning system and in pre-planning is between 4450 MW and 4950 MW.
[3] Data centres are pushing up prices for consumers. In Ireland domestic electricity prices are projected to rise 8-21% over the next 5 years, while the price paid by data centres is expected to drop by 14%. Data centres have also been blamed for rises in electricity prices for consumers in the US and Spain, with a Bloomberg study showing that wholesale electricity prices are up more than 250% in places close to data centres.
Review of water impacts of data centres here.
A report by the London Assembly’s planning committee reported that housing development is constrained in three boroughs due to data centre energy demand. In Dublin there is currently a moratorium on the building of any new data centres because of the strain existing ones have placed on Ireland’s national electricity provider. In 2023 they accounted for one fifth of the country’s energy demand.
[4]Green’ data centres could derail Scotland’s net-zero plans.’ The Herald 16 Nov 2025.
Parliamentary Question on “Green Data Centres” S6W-41362: To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used to determine whether a data centre qualifies as a “green data centre” under the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), and whether AI-focused data centres are included in the scope of national developments under NPF4
Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP 15 October 2025
Answered by: Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025
National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) designates all green data centres of a major scale as part of National Development 12: Digital Fibre Network. This includes AI-focused green data centres meeting the major development criteria.
It will be for the planning authority to interpret and apply NPF4 according to the circumstances of each individual case. To be considered a green data centre, planning authorities may wish to consider criteria such as the extent to which the data centre is powered from renewable energy sources; makes use of energy efficient technologies; seeks to minimise water consumption; and supports the re-use of excess heat.
[5] In 2024 Scotland’s capacity of data centres was estimated at 30MW by UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology May 2025.
And at 10MW by Scottish Enterprise. Appendix B Green Data Centres Programme Update June 2025.
Colocation data centres are those where customers rent space for cloud computing, AI processing and storage. These are what the new hyperscale data centres will be. Enterprise data centres are servers owned by the company that uses them, for example University servers.
Theoretically if these data centres were built at the capacity they are applying for, their energy use over a year could be 4.45 GW x 24x 365 = 38,982 GWh. This is because data centres have a constant demand and do not fluctuate up and down like household demand.
21,762 GWh was total Energy consumption in Scotland in 2023 from domestic and non-domestic users Subnational electricity consumption statistics UK Government. Therefore building these data centres would more than double Scotland’s annual energy consumption.
