Data Centre which would use the equivalent energy as half Scotland’s households submits planning permission

Local campaigners speak out against plans for a 600MW data centre in Fife and we warn of energy price rises due to the volume of hyperscale data centres ahead of Parliamentary debate on energy.

This week a planning application for a new hyperscale data centre with an energy demand of 600MW was published on Fife Council’s website [1]. This is only the second hyperscale data centre to reach this stage of planning, the first was the 213MW data centre at the Gyle, Edinburgh which was refused planning permission and is now appealing the decision. Members of the public now have four weeks to comment on, or object to, the Fife proposal.

Campaigners have issued a warning about the energy demands of the Fife data centre, which would take around 15% of our peak winter power demand [2]. They say that Scotland’s proposed data centres are a threat to our energy affordability and energy security.  

Data Centres, unlike homes and businesses, run 24/7 and APRS have calculated that the energy used over a year by the proposed Fife hyperscale data centre will use the equivalent energy of 1.3 million households. Since, in 2024, there were 2.55 million households in Scotland, this one data centre will use the energy of over half of the households in Scotland and 20% of Scotland’s total energy use. [3]

In Ireland data centres energy demand has put unprecedented strain on the grid. A moratorium on new data centre construction was put in place in 2021 due to fears of blackouts which was only eased last year. This energy crisis in Ireland happened with 22% of Ireland’s energy (2025 figures) used by data centres. The energy demands of the Auchtertool hyperscale data centre alone would take Scotland’s data centre energy demand to this level.  

Campaigners say the Fife development is just the tip of the iceberg. APRS has mapped all the hyperscale data centres that are in the planning system and found that the total demand for energy from data centres in Scotland’s planning system is now 6,200MW [4] and plans for six sites that haven’t reached planning stage yet which would take the total to over 11,000MW, nearly three times our winter peak demand.

Campaigners are concerned about rising energy prices as has been seen in the US, where prices have soared due to the infrastructure that has had to be built to support the energy demands of hyperscale data centres. Bloomberg has reported prices have soared up to 267% more in areas with data centres.

As the Scottish Parliament meets for a debate on Thursday entitled ‘It’s Scotland’s Energy’ [5], campaigners warn that the energy demands of Scotland’s proposed data centres are a real threat to our energy affordability and energy security.

Kat Jones, Director of APRS said:

“This is an inconceivable amount of energy that Scotland is being asked to divert to the use of hyperscale AI data centres, which will enrich a few billionaires in Silicon valley at the expense of the Scottish consumer. Energy prices for domestic users have soared where hyperscale data centres are built and there is a huge risk that this will happen in Scotland because energy infrastructure spend is spread across all bill payers.  No discussion on energy in Scotland can ignore the impact that these data centres would have on our electricity grid and energy prices.”

Kat Jones said “If these data centres get built it certainly won’t be Scotland’s Energy, it will be Silicon Valley’s energy, and Scotland risks sky-rocketing energy prices and energy blackouts if we continue without a proper policy in place. The Scottish Government need to get a grip on the situation and put some proper policy in place around energy use and impacts of hyperscale AI data centres.”

Andrea Cail, Chair of Auchtertool Community Council said:

“As a Community Council we are dismayed and will vigorously oppose the proposal to site a 600 MW hyper scale data centre right on the edge of our small village in Auchtertool. The buildings and other developments take up land more extensive than the village itself. 

“The application is extremely vague details about the vast amounts of energy and water that will actually be required, and what level of noise and heat loss to the surroundings there will be.

“Our local wildlife reserve Auchtertool Linn Wildlife Site is within the site and apparently won’t be built on, but we are concerned about future access, and the data centre buildings are planned to be built over a ruined castle. This will be a giant blot on our rural landscape, right next to the village, with 6 buildings at 35m high. This is an application with no end user identified and the statement of intent shows the proposal could be changed and modified once an end user is found, which is really concerning.

“As a country we do not appear to have identified how many hyper scale data centres we need (or can service with energy and water) and this is one of three this developer is planning across the central belt.”

NOTES 

[1] The Planning application was published on Monday 25 May and is available on the Fife Planning Portal – 26/01243/PPP 

[2] Scotland’s current winter peak gross demand is just over 4 GW NESO (National Energy System Operator). 

[3] Calculation:

Load Factor: NESO Future Energy Scenario (FES) Pathway Assumptions (2025) workbook  states that the fleet wide average load factor is 70%, yet this has been judged to increase to 80-85% for hyperscale facilities and data centres dealing predominately with AI.Sowe are using a figure of 80%.

For a 600MW data centre operating at estimated 80% capacity twenty four hours a day for a year this is 4.2 million MWh (4200 GWh) which equates well to the figures in the Planning Permission in Principle application which say that the development will be phased with an ultimate energy use per year estimated at 4000GWh [see the Energy Statement in the Planning Application]

There were 2.55 million households in Scotland in 2024 (Household survey most recent data) and household average energy use in 2024 was 3140KWh (from UK Government Sub-National energy statistics)

So the energy use of Achtertool data centre when built will use in a year the same energy as 1.34 million households – or 53% of Scottish households. (UK Government statistics)

Total Energy consumption in Scotland 2024 21.7TWh (21,700,000 GWh) so this one data centre would use the equivalent of 20 percent of Scotland’s entire energy use in 2024.

[4] https://aprs.scot/data-centre-map/#total

[5] In his launch speech for the ‘It’s our Energy’ campaign John Swinney said ‘We can become one of the most attractive locations on the planet for the hi-tech, energy intensive industries of the future, enabling us to turbo-charge our nation’s economic prospects.