Scotland mandates environmental assessments for large data centres

Scotland has introduced mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for all new data centre developments exceeding 50MW. This regulatory shift aims to address growing concerns regarding the energy and water requirements of large-scale digital infrastructure, ensuring significant environmental effects are evaluated during the planning process.

The move comes amid a massive surge in proposed data centre capacity. Currently, Scotland has approximately 11 data centres with a combined capacity of roughly 10MW, but 22 new projects have been proposed. These new developments could potentially add 7,765MW of electricity demand to the grid. While Scotland’s renewable energy resources make it an attractive hub for AI and data infrastructure, the scale of these proposals has sparked debate over grid upgrades, energy costs for citizens, and the use of diesel generators for backup power.

In the Scottish Parliament, lawmakers recently passed an amendment stating that no planning or consenting decisions should be made on hyperscale applications until new national guidance has been completed. This follows discussions regarding a potential moratorium on such developments to allow for a comprehensive national strategy.