THE Scottish Government has announced tighter rules on new large data centres ahead of a key debate in Holyrood.
On Wednesday, MSPs will debate a Scottish Greens motion on whether there should be a moratorium on planning applications for new hyperscale data centres, amid a surge of speculative proposals for huge facilities across the country.
The Green motion calls for a moratorium on planning applications for new hyperscale data centres until a national strategy and updated planning guidance are produced, which must then take account of the “cumulative impacts on energy demand and the environment” of such developments.
Ahead of the debate, the Scottish Government has announced tighter rules for AI data centre applications.
New data centres with a power capacity exceeding 50 megawatts – also known as "hyperscale" centres – will now be required to submit environmental impact assessments during planning.
It comes after the Scottish Government brought in rules last month which require ministers to be made aware of new applications within seven days of validation.
Campaigners have raised concerns about the environmental impact of hyperscale data centres, along with the impact on Scotland's energy system and water supplies.
Outlander star Sam Heughan has also urged MSPs to back a moratorium, telling The National that the centres are "currently benefiting no-one but the landowners and big tech".
In the planning direction issued by the Scottish Government, officials said that in "recognising the new and emerging evidence base around this rapidly evolving sector, the Scottish Government considers it appropriate to apply caution in ensuring potentially significant environmental effects are considered from the outset".
Data centre applications which have a power capacity below 50MW will be subject to an environmental impact assessment on a "case-by-case" basis.
The new rules come into effect from Thursday and will be reviewed periodically, officials said.
Commenting, 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.
“As this is an emerging industry, we have the opportunity to get this right from the start. The guidance issued today is the next step in that process."
Mary Goodlad added: “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.
“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.”
Campaigners welcomed the move from the Scottish Government but stressed it does not go far enough.
Dr Kat Jones, director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS), said: “This is extremely good news and something that we have been asking for since the start of our campaign, but without a moratorium the other essential work can’t be done.
"It was always a total no-brainer that hyperscale data centres should be required to do environmental impact assessments, and we haven’t met anyone yet who disagrees. It is good that the Scottish Government is, at last, recognising this too."
Dr Jones added: “This is an important, but limited, first step, and the other measures that need to be covered are set out well in the Labour amendment and the Green motion that will be debated this afternoon.
"A pause on planning decisions is absolutely essential. Just the first four applications under consideration at the moment would use as much energy as is generated by Torness nuclear power station, which is due to close in 2030.
"A modest pause will give time for the Government to put in place the necessary planning guidance, assess how much data centre capacity Scotland actually needs and where any should go, and assess and manage the impacts on the grid and the climate.”
Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth Scotland said the new rules are "necessary but not enough".
Senior campaigner Kim Pratt said: "If they are comprehensive, transparent and effective EIAs can be a useful tool in understanding the expected impacts on people and nature of data centres, but they do not on their own make a project more environmentally friendly."
Pratt continued: “Data centres require huge amounts of energy, land and materials to build and run. Thousands of people across Scotland have called on the Scottish Government to put people and nature before the profits of big tech."
Pratt said that until the Scottish Government has a national strategy to deal with AI data centres, "there must be a moratorium".
"A moratorium is needed now because there are planning decisions due in a matter of weeks," she added.
"These communities do not have until the end of the year, which is when the Scottish Government have proposed they will act by, to provide the protection they need.”
Responding, the Scottish Greens said the new rules represent "the bare minimum of action ministers could have taken and does not stop the need for a moratorium".
Greens MSP Patrick Harvie said: "The requirement for Environmental Impact Assessments is a baby-step forward that has only been secured because of this Green debate. But it’s the bare minimum of what is needed and doesn’t justify opening up our country to a big tech free-for-all.
“Nothing that the Government has announced this morning changes the urgent need for a moratorium until we have a national strategy and guidance in place for the councils who are being left to make these decisions in the dark."
Harvie continued: “These centres would have huge implications for our environment and our communities, which is why there are local groups all across the country opposing them.
“Every SNP MSP should be asking themselves how on earth they can justify voting against the moratorium than their own party’s national council and so many of their members have called for."
