Scotland needs a moratorium on new data centres
There has been much in the news recently about the proposals for the development of hyper-scale data centres in Scotland. The Scottish Green Party, as well as many environmental and community groups, are campaigning against the development of these centres without proper planning guidance set out by the Scottish Government. The following reports on the latest from the Green Party, and information about a protest at Holyrood that is planned for 3rd September.
Scotland is currently facing a wave of speculative hyper-scale data centre planning applications. With 24 proposals for major new sites in Scotland, if all are approved they will consume up to 6000 megawatts of power – more than 1.5 times Scotland’s total peak power use now.
Within limits, data centres are an essential part of modern infrastructure. But at a time of rising energy prices and stalled climate action, an unplanned expansion could have huge impacts on both people and planet, and the huge scale of expansion is mostly about enriching giant AI companies.
With hundreds of megawatts of renewable electricity diverted from homes to hyperscale data centres, all our efforts to transition to renewables could be undone by the huge strain placed on our energy system.
Communities around the world have experienced energy price rises as a direct result of similar developments, and three London boroughs have had to put a freeze on house building plans because of the impact of data centres on local grid connection.
The work to develop Scotland’s last planning update was carried out in 2022, prior to the public launch of ChatGPT and before the acceleration of the global AI industry. It’s clear we need an urgent update, to ensure planning is co-ordinated at a national level and we are protecting the environment and the energy system from the impact of new data centres.
Thanks to our campaign, we have forced the Scottish Government to act. In August, they announced that Councils must tell Scottish Ministers about all data centre applications over 50MW. And they intervened in two applications in Fife and Edinburgh, mandating that environmental impact assessments must be done.
But this falls far short of what we need. It will not actually pause or prevent a single hyperscale data centre from being approved. It has still not defined what a so-called ‘green’ data centre is. And the Scottish Government still hasn’t given local Councils the guidance they need to make decisions on these proposals.
We still need an urgent moratorium on new large scale data centres, until the Scottish Government can put in place updated planning guidance, including a definition of what constitutes supposed ‘green’ data centres, and requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment as standard.
Thousands of people have already made their voices heard. Join us in writing today to the First Minister to demand an urgent pause on hyperscale AI data centres in Scotland.
Join them in writing to the First Minister here: https://greens.scot/datacentres
They have reached 23,871 supporters, with a goal of 24,000 – only a few left to go!
Action to Protect Rural Scotland
Local hyperscale data centre campaigners are planning a rally at Holyrood in the first week MSPs return after the summer break. Fourteen local campaigns are joining together on 3rd September to bring people to the Parliament to meet MSPs.
The local campaigns which are joining together to organise the event represent groups campaigning against hyperscale data centres in:
- Larbert,
- Hurlford near Kilmarnock
- Auchtertool, Fife
- Chapelhall
- Ravenscraig
- Annan and Dumfries
- Aberdeen (Blackdog)
- Bishopbriggs and Lenzie
- Hunterston, West Kilbride
- Edinburgh (Gyle)
- West Edinburgh (Hermiston/Currie)
- Lammermuirs (Longformacus)
- Dunbar
- Cockenzie
The campaigners are welcoming others to join them – the timing is below. They are encouraging all supporters who come to contact their MSPs to let them know they will be there, and to invite them out for a chat to them outside the Parliament ahead of General Questions and First Minister’s Questions.
Date: Thursday 3rd September 2026
- Assemble 1130am
- Group photos 1145am
- Please do invite your MSPs (both constituency and regional) down to meet you from 1200-1300
- 1300/1315 we will head into the Parliament to listen to general questions (which starts 1330) and FMQs (1400)
Please do look at the policy for protests on the Scottish Parliament website. The Campaigners want to encourage all supporters to contact their MSPs are let them know they will be there and to invite them out for a chat.
RSVP if possible
If you are coming please let your local campaign know, or if you aren’t part of a local campaign and wish to come as an individual please still contact your MSPs and just let us know on the form here so we can keep the Scottish Parliament informed of numbers and let you know if anything changes.
For more information on the campaign see also:
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland
See SCCS’s policy proposal for a moratorium on data centre development here: https://www.stopclimatechaos.scot/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/SCCS-Proposal-for-a-Moratorium-on-50MW-data-centres.pdf
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth Scotland press release: https://foe.scot/press-release/holes-in-government-statement-means-data-centre-crisis-will-continue/
Scottish Government statement: https://www.gov.scot/news/data-centre-planning-direction/
Growing need for copper raises alarms over environmental and human rights issues – Business and Human Rights Centre: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/growing-need-for-copper-raises-alarms-over-environmental-and-human-rights-issues/
Arran Eco Savvy https://arranecosavvy.org.uk/news-events/eco-savvy-news-events/act-against-hyperscale-data-centre-expansion/
Featured image by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com
