Scottish Government adds environmental check to new data centre applications 

The Scottish Government has announced that all new applications for "large data centres" will require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be submitted during planning.  

A large data centre is classified as having a power capacity exceeding 50 megawatts (MW). There are currently plans for 24 hyperscale data centres, classified as using over 40 MW of power, to be built across Scotland.  

Writing in a letter announcing the change, the Scottish Government's chief planner, Dr Fiona Simpson, said that large-scale data centres have the potential to introduce a “significant industrial presence into the landscape” and outlined additional potential impacts to "biodiversity, soils, water resources, noise, and potentially for air quality where back-up generators are used". 

The announcement follows a direction last month that required planning authorities to notify Scottish ministers of all new data centre applications within seven days of validation.  

Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad said:  

“The Scottish Government recognises that data centres are a rapidly evolving sector attracting a broad range of views, opinions and concerns, and that evidence on the environmental impact of data centres continues to develop." 

“Ensuring that an Environmental Impact Assessment is always part of the application process will create a level playing field for developers and will ensure potentially significant environmental effects are considered from the outset.”   

An EIA is a means of assessing the likely significant environmental effects arising from a proposed development.  It is intended to ensure that the environmental effects of any development proposals are investigated, understood and taken into account before they proceed.   

The planning directive comes on a day where the Scottish Greens have scheduled a vote calling for a moratorium on new AI data centres in Holyrood. The issue is scheduled to be voted on later today.  

Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie said:   

“Scotland is being hit by a huge surge of hyperscale AI data centre proposals, and the Scottish Government is standing by while councils are being left to deal with the consequences. 

“The scale of what is being proposed is extraordinary. If the first 24 of these projects are approved, they will require one and a half times Scotland’s entire peak electricity consumption. It is completely unsustainable."