New interactive map of hyperscale data centre proposals

We have made a map of the hyperscale data centre projects being planned in Scotland.

Click on the map to find out information on the capacity, stage of planning, developer. And each proposed site has a dedicated webpage with more information including maps and plans, links to planning documents, and contact details of local campaign groups.

Press Release

Today Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) has published an interactive map of the hyperscale data centre projects currently being planned in Scotland. Each proposal has a dedicated webpage with links to planning documents, maps, plans and other information about the developments.  

The publication coincides with a series of events, both in person and online, starting this week, to bring together people interested in learning about data centres and to connect them with others campaigning in their areas. This includes Donald Campbell from Foxglove, the tech campaigning organisation, which brought a court case to challenge a data centre in Buckinghamshire, leading to the UK Government to admit they had wrongly given it permission. And Julie Bolthouse from Piedmont Environment Council in Virginia, the US state known as ‘Data Centre Alley’ because it has the highest density of data centres in the world. 

Dr Kat Jones, Director of APRS said:

“It is vital that we get the information out to help people see the extent of the threat posed to Scotland by hyperscale AI data centres. This map gives a really accessible way of finding out where the data centres are, and to get involved locally.

“We hope this will prompt people to delve a bit more into how hyperscale data centres could affect Scotland, and join local groups protesting the data centres in their areas. There are already groups and individuals getting organised across the central belt against data centres and we are encouraging more groups to form so we can put their details on the map.”

Lisa Beacham who is part of a group campaigning against a 530MW data centre planned on around 150 hectares of farmland outside Hurlford in East Ayrshire encouraged others thinking of starting a local campaign group.

“We started the facebook group and had 800 members within weeks. People feel really strongly about this in our area, and it has been amazing to see the folks rally round. It’s brought our local villages together in a way that hasn’t happened before. I’d encourage anyone who is concerned about hyperscale data centres to start, or get involved in, a local campaign group and to keep checking local authority planning systems for updates.”

The Scottish Government has a policy supporting ‘green data centres’ but there is no definition of what a green data centre is. APRS has been calling for a moratorium on hyperscale data centres until the Scottish Government has investigated their impacts on the grid, communities and climate targets, and provided an adequate definition of what a green data centre is.

Kat Jones said:

“This map and the information we have published on each one of these huge developments reiterates the need for the Scottish Government to get a grip on the proliferation of hyperscale AI data centre applications across Scotland. If all these were operating it would more than double Scotland’s energy use, which is obviously ludicrous and would be ruinous for both our energy grid and our climate targets. 

“The task of the Scottish Government in considering a definition of a ‘green data centre’ will be to decide what size of data centre would actually serve Scotland’s needs, rather than the demands of US big tech giants to build their global supremacy. There needs to be a differentiation between the data centres that keep our modern world moving – the cloud computing and the businesses and the research – and the hyperscale AI data centres, which require orders of magnitude more energy and devastate communities.”