The Scottish government has announced that large-scale datacentres will now face mandatory environmental assessments. This new requirement applies to any projects exceeding 50MW and comes amid increasing public concern regarding the impact of the AI boom.
The announcement was made ahead of a vote in Holyrood on Wednesday concerning a moratorium on new hyperscale datacentres. While tightening rules for new projects, the government has not agreed to an outright halt on developments.
Scotland has experienced a surge in planning applications for large datacentres due to global investment in AI infrastructure. Campaigners have raised concerns about the potential water usage, carbon emissions, and the capacity of Scotland's energy infrastructure to meet the resulting demand.
Public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad stated that the Scottish government recognises the evolving evidence on environmental impact. She added that ensuring environmental impact assessments are part of the application process will create a level playing field for developers and ensure potential environmental effects are considered from the outset.