Scotland puts 50 MW data centres under closer planning scrutiny
Scotland is tightening oversight of large data centres, with councils now required to notify ministers of applications above 50 MW.
In Brief
- Scottish councils must now notify ministers of data centre applications above 50 MW.
- The requirement applies to new schemes and applications already in the planning system.
- Ministers say the move will help assess the wider infrastructure implications of the development pipeline.
In Review
Scotland has introduced new planning oversight for large data centres, requiring local authorities to notify the Scottish Government of applications exceeding 50 MW of power capacity within seven days of validation.
The new policy applies to both new applications and applications already being considered, which should give the Scottish Government a greater insight in what exactly is in the pipeline. Theoretically, that should mean it will be able to plan its policies towards the sector accordingly, ensuring that the demand coming from data centres is paired with investment in grid reinforcement.
Power availability has long shaped where data centres can actually be built, but grid constraints are becoming more prevalent up and down the UK. Those constraints could have an impact on the country benefitting from the AI boom, but it has also been argued that greater visibility over the system and a more joined-up planning policy could help ease some of the sector’s bigger problems.
And that’s exactly why the Scottish Government has made this decision. It stopped short of backing a temporary moratorium on data centres in the country, despite the SNP backing the proposals, and instead decided to take stock of where exactly the industry is in the UK.
The practical consequence for the industry is that data centres are going to find their electrical strategy face scrutiny earlier. A proposal for a very large load can no longer be treated simply as a building scheme with a connection application running quietly alongside it. Connection capacity, phasing and the wider infrastructure implications increasingly form part of the same development story.
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