Climate Emissions and Hyperscale Data Centres
Rapid development of data centres in Scotland raises questions about their future energy demand and the implications for the country’s net zero targets. This report shares the findings of a research project which compared official projections of data centre energy use and carbon emissions with the active data centre planning pipeline of 5,095MW capacity, and of assessing Government estimates against proposed projects in the Scottish planning system.
Letter to ECU about developments in the AI Growth Zone
Energy Consents Unit, 5 Atlantic Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow, G2 8LU Econsents_Admin@gov.scot 4 May 2026 Dear Sir or Madam, Re: Transparency over the
Letter to DSIT, UK Gov about AI Growth Zone
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), 22-26 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EG correspondence@dsit.gov.uk 4 May 2026 Dear Sir or Madam, Re:
Letter to North Lanarkshire Council about the AI Growth Zone
We sent this letter with Woodhall, Faskine and Palacecraig Conservation Group to ask for transparency around the developments planned as part of the AI Growth Zone
Accelerating home building – incentives and penalties to speed up housing delivery: consultation
In this consultation on housing delivery we are strongly against the introduction of a new “presumption in favour of housebuilding on unallocated land” and we would like to see incentives and attention being focused on faster delivery of social housing or community-led housing. We note that a Public Interest Led Development approach is much needed as recommended by the Scottish Land Commission.
List of APRS Media Reports on Hyperscale Data Centres
Since we started our Campaign on hyperscale data centres in November 2025 we have achieved a really good amount of media coverage of the campaign. These are listed below.
Letter to Chief Planner and Head of National Planning Hub
This letter was written to seek information about the progress of a commitment o Scottish Government to provide guidance and support to planning authorities in the determination of Data Centre Development proposals.
Employment and Data Centres: APRS Report
This paper compares the job creation claims of developers planning hyperscale data centres in Scotland with data gathered from actual figures from data centres globally and a new analysis of a data set from Virginia (USA) relating to job creation across various sectors in their economy. It includes a review of the job creation claims of proposed data centres in Scotland.
Ofgem consultation on Data Centres
APRS has responded to a consultation by Ofgem on data centre connections to the grid. You can read our response below. March 2026