PLANNED AI data centres in Fife and Edinburgh will have to publish Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), the Scottish Government has said.
Planning authorities will also have to notify Scottish ministers of any new AI data centre applications.
Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad published a new direction for planning authorities which will apply to data centre developments exceeding a power capacity of 50 megawatts (mw).
Officials will have to inform ministers within seven days of the application being validated.
Goodlad said that there must be a balance struck between the economic and employment interests with energy, climate and community wealth building ambitions.
Campaigners have welcomed the move as "common sense prevailing at last", while the Scottish Greens warned it does not go far enough and a full moratorium should be put in place.
The Scottish Government also ruled that proposals for Wester Hermiston Data Centre, in Edinburgh, and another in Auchtertool, Fife, will have to provide full Environmental Impact Assessments.
Earlier this month, officials ruled that full a full EIA is required for an AI data centre in South Gyle, also in Edinburgh.
It comes after growing pressure on the Scottish Government to intervene over the number of planning applications for AI data centres across Scotland.
Campaigners have fiercely opposed the plans and raised concerns over the centres’ impact on the environment, including extremely high electricity and water usage.
Goodlad has also recalled a planning appeal relating to a proposed green data centre in Edinburgh, which means ministers will decide the final outcome rather than an appointed reporter.
A reporter will consider the appeal and provide a report and recommendation to Ministers, who will then take the final decision.
“Data centres is a rapidly emerging sector, and planning has an important role to play in considering applications, harnessing economic opportunities, and finding solutions which align with our climate goals,” Goodlad said.
“We must balance the economic and employment interests in developing data centres with national energy, climate and community wealth building ambitions, which are vital to our future prosperity, as well as the potential impact on local communities.
“It is essential to secure public benefits from this type of development, and I am clear that voices of communities that will be affected will be central to any considerations on data centres.”
Chief Planner and Director Dr Fiona Simpson issued the direction to planning officials on Monday, August 17.
“I am writing to draw your attention to a new Direction setting out the arrangements for notifying planning applications for proposed new data centre development exceeding 50MW Power Capacity,” Simpson wrote.
“The direction includes notification requirements so that the Scottish Ministers are alerted of any such planning applications within 7 days of validation.
“This requirement applies to both new planning applications and any that are currently being considered. The Direction comes in to force today, 17 August 2026.
“It will enable strategic oversight and monitoring of the progress of the pipeline of applications within and entering the planning system, and of the overall impacts and implications for wider infrastructure.”
The direction was issued under Regulation 31 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013.
Planning authorities who receive an application for a data centre above 50mw must then send Scottish Ministers a copy of the planning application, accompanying plans and documents, along with the full address and postcode of the site to be developed. They must also include any EIAs, or if one has not been prepared, a copy of any screening opinion given to the planning authority.
In response to the announcement, Scottish Greens climate spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP said: “This is an important first step, but it falls far short of the pause Scotland urgently needs.
“Today’s announcement has not actually paused or prevented a single hyperscale data centre from being approved, and the Scottish Government have still to define what a so-called ‘green’ data centre actually is.
“Likewise, the new environmental assessment requirements for proposals in Edinburgh and Fife are important, but they need to apply to every proposal.
“While it is welcome that ministers have finally listened to the Scottish Greens and others, and have recognised the need for greater scrutiny, monitoring the pipeline of applications is not the same as managing it.
“Until the impact on our energy grid, water supplies, climate targets and communities has been properly assessed and councils have clear guidance, there must be a pause on all applications.
“We cannot allow a rush of speculative developments to be approved one by one without understanding the impact on our climate, infrastructure and communities."
He added that there must be a moratorium on approving new large-scale data centres until Scotland has a binding national framework.
Kat Jones, Director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) said: "Common sense has, at last, prevailed. The Scottish Government has realised that the fact that they have no information about hyperscale data centres in the planning pipeline is a serious issue.
"Knowing what is proposed, and where, is critical to start to get a handle of the speculative wave of hyperscale data centre applications so this the start of the information that the Scottish Government needs to start gathering.
"When we first brought to their attention, back in December, that the energy demands of data centres in the planning pipeline would double Scotland's peak power demand we expected them to ask for this information straight away, it shouldn't have really needed a ten-month campaign for this to happen.
"Today we are celebrating that the process of getting a sensible approach to this situation is beginning."
She added that the requirement for EIAs should be extended to all other proposed hyperscale data centres.
Roz Foyer, STUC general secretary, said that ministers go much further on "control and planning management" of hyperscale data centres.
"Workers deserve better than the glorified ‘holding response’ they have just issued," she said.
“Before a further spade is put in the ground, workers and their communities must know that these huge developments will bring prosperity, growth and regeneration to their areas, never mind the stringent guardrails still needed to limit the environmental damage caused by these structures.
“A national strategy is required, one that allows unions, councils, and government to ensure that the explosion of AI in our workplaces – powered and driven by these data centres – benefits the people it serves, not those who seek to make a profit whilst communities pay the price.”
