This is a proposal for a 1000MW hyperscale data centre (scaling to 2000MW) on the same peninsular as Dunoon. It is opposite Rothsay on the Isle of Bute. The developer had applied for 186 acres of brownfield and farmland land at the end of the peninsular to become an AI Growth zone. And also has planning permission to construct a building for use as a small data centre.
Update 30 July 2026
We believe the project has been mothballed (according to the developer) who was quoted in local newspaper: Isle of Bute News, with a follow up article in the Herald.
He said that the project is “Stalled if not halted” and “We have stopped our build at Killean farm” he said “because there is not much point in developing anything any further when we can’t get the power”
We still need to keep an eye on this development but it was always being proposed in an area distant from any high powered Grid Supply Points so this was always going to be an issue, especially for their ambitions to be 600MW scaling to 1-2GW
News related to Argyll Development
Grid connection days cited in the decision of the developer to mothball the proposal on the Cowal peninsular. However APRS say that the size and scale was always completely unrealistic.
Communities campaigning against hyperscale AI data centres gathered outside Holyrood (Wednesday 24th June) ahead of Climate and Rural Affairs Parliamentary
Today APRS and ERCS wrote to the Planning Minister Ivan McKee to express concern about the energy demands of data centres coming through Scotland’s planning system. They called for a pause on all planning applications until a more strategic approach can be made and strict environmental standards are defined for data centres.
Planning Application Details
Planning application for a data centre in the quarry area has been approved but would not be big enough for the 600MW-2000MW site they want to create. However we cannot see any Planning Application for the 74 hectare site that is proposed in their application to be an AI Growth Zone.
The developer has planning permission for a ‘building for data storage purposes’ from 2020. However this is one relatively small building (70mx20m) next to the farm and not in the area proposed on the AI growth zone document.
Planning permission (2020)
20/00229/PP
25/00445/CLAWU
Building control 23/00484/NDOM7/S1
Approved, building could be under construction but not clear whether data centre has any funding.
Info last checked – 23 Feb 2026
EIA screening not requested (for the data centre already applied for)
Farmland and Quarry
Address and Location
Dunoon
55.880099°, -5.030883°
Local Authority
Argyll
Developer and Size of the site
Argyll Development and SambaNova
100-600 MW Scaling to 2000MW
We believe the developers of this data centre have applied for a huge grid connection of 600MW. Which you can see in the Transitional Regional Energy Spatial Plan
https://argylldev.com/ai-growth-zone-overview
The developers applied to be an AI Growth zone and there is more information about their plans here:
Update
