[UK Government published a policy paper outlining the “AI Growth Zones” policy](https://www.gov.uk/…/deliver…/delivering-ai-growth-zones) in November 2025
The UK Government have designated Scotland a preferred growth zone for Data Centres. To encourage this, there are several incentives. For a large 500MWh data centre:
– electricity will be discounted by £24MWh (the greatest discount in the UK)
– accelerate grid connections
– reduce planning barriers by changing the law to make data centres Nationally significant infrastructure projects and speeding up consent
– remove consent powers from local authorities to central government
– creating the best business environment
There is no mention at all of environmental impacts (including water consumption, noise, additional grid infrastructure etc), involvement or influence of host communities upon award of consent.
It looks as if once more, Scotland’s resources and rural communities are to be exploited. We all know that apart from construction, data centres do not create jobs. What we do know from experiences in the USA, is that data centres suck in power and water on a 24/7/265 basis, often in preference to needs of existing adjacent residential neighbours. We also know from the SG’s Energy secretary’s evidence on Wednesday to the Petitions Committee, is that the SG favours this as the next great direction of travel and investment for Scotland.
I think we need to be very careful before becoming swamped by yet more onshore renewables, grid expansion and water extraction to host data centres for other countries.
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