Time for action on hyperscale data centres
The First Minister has been urged to use his upcoming Programme for Government to finally take action against hyperscale data centres in Scotland.
The Scottish Greens have called on him to announce a moratorium on the climate-wrecking industry until a national strategy is in place and councils have clear guidance on how to assess applications.
Scotland is currently facing a wave of speculative hyperscale 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.
So far action from the Scottish Government has been minimal. This month Ministers introduced new rules so that councils would need to inform them as soon as an application came in, but this does nothing to suspend or stop any applications.
The Scottish Greens economy spokesperson, Patrick Harvie MSP, said:
“All over the country people are deeply concerned about the impact that hyperscale data centres could have on their community.
“Councils are being asked to rule on these huge new developments, which could have massive demands on our electricity system, without any clear plan from the Scottish Government.
“We cannot let Scotland become a dumping ground for energy-hungry data centres. When the First Minister unveils his programme this week he must finally put the brakes on these speculative developments and bring forward a proper national strategy.
“The stakes are high. If we get this wrong, we risk locking Scotland into huge new energy demands, putting pressure on our electricity system and undermining our climate commitments.
“There is still time to act, but that window is closing. I hope this is when we will finally start to see real action from the Scottish Government.”