Concerns about large data centres in Scotland near homes

[Sheldonsheher]

Why is there not more outcry about data centres in Scotland. As far as I can see it’s a resource grab by tech giant companies to cream off Scotland’s natural resources. They won’t provide much benefit and will decimate local communities. For example hermiston gait right next to a student campus and homes. They will drain Scotland’s resources. Make a mockery of net zero and hose pipe bans. Yes to small data centres away from homes no to mega data centres next to people’s homes.

Why do you think we should use our surplus energy for data centres?
It isn't the only market for renewable energy.

Anyway, if you think the situation needs more research before granting planning to vast data centres, you can sign here to support a moratorium-
https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE2233

If you are correct that they will be good for the country, this will give the opportunity to prove it before any more applications can be granted.

"Why do you think we should use our surplus energy for data centres?
It isn't the only market for renewable energy."

Scotland does not have surplus energy. It has excess capacity. And excess capacity is good by the way.

At peak, Scotland pulls 5GW from the grid. But the installed capacity is 17GW. That 12GW difference does not exist as electricity, unless a load is added to the system and it is pulled.

These datacenters will be a load pulling from the grid. And that load converts into electricity. At no price difference really to run. It does not burn more gas or coal, it makes the turbines stiffer to turn. But the wind is turning them anyway.

Scotland does export electricity to England, but then we get into transmission losses. It if much more efficient to pull from the grid the closer one is to the generating source.

The data centers will by buying the excess capacity, not surplus energy.

So no, I would not sign the petition, because it looks like a good idea to me.

And I am still not seeing any data or studies from those against.

Part of the reason Scotland can’t use all of the energy being generated by green sources is that the grid needs upgrading to cope with the quantity. There are connections lacking which means green energy is often going to waste when fossil fuels are being burned.

Do you think the AI companies are going to help us upgrade the grid? I don’t.

The AI companies don't need topay upgrade the grid directly.. From what I see the grid people are saying where the spare leccy capacity is. The AI companies build there, pay for the leccy that the Grid companies are limited to move, and the money from the leccy sales go into upgrading the grid.

It's the same as happened with Aluminium smelting back in the day. The industry goes to where the power is. Except with the aluminium it was all state owned. So the danger now is that the private leccy companies take the money for the leccy and don't invest any.

Or some of the projects might be vapourware. They are usually easy to spot. But I have not seen vapourware mentioned in this thread other than by me, so seems it is not that.

In this case, I just searched for "scotland data center locations report" and it is right there. Even with my limited internet. Sample here:

Report identifies new opportunities for data centres in Scotland - Data Centre & Network News (dcnnmagazine.com)

The information seems to be out there. What I am not seeing is any links with data on the negative.

There will be negatives. But honestly I am not seeing them.

Here is another positive for you. I am not up to speed on subsidies, but my understanding is that some generators are subsidized. Because government want the capacity, but there is limited market for the sellers who produce it to sell it. If there is a market taking all they can generate, then the subsidies can be stopped ?

In my mind, if we think of the GW of leccy as carrots. A farmer grows 17 carrots. The local market needs the carrots to survive, but they only want 5. But the government want the farmer to be able to grow more for reserve.

Then someone comes along and say they want the carrots, and they will build a canning plant beside the farm to buy the spare carrots.

What the AI companies are banking on is that Scottish wind is reliable. So in effect, Scotland are selling them the wind. Or the leccy the wind produces.

I really can't see the downsides.

The data centres that are built in Scotland near excess capacity will get a discount of £24 per MW/hr from the Govt. Similar applies to areas in England.
Who pays for that discount ? Why are they even getting it? If they want to build somewhere not suitable just say no.
According to the Scottish Govt website 1 data centre will use the equivalent energy of 1.6 million homes.
So why do we all not have access to cheaper green electricity right now? Why is it not a priority?
The Grid needs updated and as another poster said other industries need access - it's preventing their expansion and hindering the move to net zero.
Existing data centres overbook the electricity they require and don't use it - again to the detriment to other industries. There's a backlog of requests for capacity and if I'm understanding it right there are speculative requests for grid allocation which are blocking real requests forr capacity.
All part of the AI boom. At the same time people in the industry say to me demand for AI will fall back.
For those who say what's the worst that will happen if these data centres become white elephants. Well it's a huge waste of resources and destruction of the environment which we keep being told is not acceptable these days. One rule for one ...

I haven't had a chance to catch up with the whole thread yet and learning interesting things. The fact is it is not conspiracy land to no longer have trust in Govts or industry to do the right thing anymore. It's common sense.

Economy of scale I expect. Peak consumption is 5GW. Capacity is 17.5 GW. To get the price down more of that 17.5 GW has to be sold. Who pays any subsidy ? No idea, But someone has to pay for the excess capacity anyway. So I am guessing the sums will likely work out that selling the excess capacity at discount is cheaper then paying for the capacity not being used.

What requests for capacity are not being filled when there is such an excess capacity ?

The grid upgrade I mentioned above.

What you're saying is all back to front to me. We shouldn't be subsidising a data centre's energy price with pressumably Govt money because they will use a lot of energy. Especially as supply apparently outstrips demand.
I now know we have excess capacity from green energy much of which came about by subsidies from the taxpayer/ Govt. No doubt part of our huge national debt.
It's in our country's national economic interest for all of us to have cheaper energy. We have industries closing down because energy is too expensive and yet l learn supply outstrips demand. The grid is being upgraded all round me and I assumed it would bring us cheaper energy not just supply AI centres with subsidised energy. Does the taxpayer pay for grid upgrades?

If the Govt can supply energy equivalent to 1.6 million homes to one !! data centre then why the hell are we paying through the nose for electricity that we generate ourselves.

I guess that's because we sold our energy companies off.

I'm not sure what you mean / questioning about data centres booking more capacity than they need? They are doing it and then that energy is not being used and other industries are pissed off.
I read it in a trade magazine.

Have wandered off track a bit sorry!

What, in Holyrood Park? No thanks.

Yes that’s the whole point no one would want one near them or parks yet they are building them literally on people’s doorsteps. It’s unbelievable really I can’t believe how the government treats people it will literally ruin their health quality of life and finances if they own the house. Or the huge one in the tiny Fife village or the lammermuir rural one. Unbelievable to me it never fails to disappoint me.

Do you have any data or links to for what you say will happen ?

How will they ruin peoples health for example ?

Noise humming noise 24/7
water pollution
particulate air pollution from “backup “ generators as some have said over 200 generators on these hyper data centres
destructuon of this local green space
stess
loss of finance/ house value or inability to selL or move

The internet is stuffed full of information if you don’t mind googling and using data! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93dnnxewdvo
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/03/datacenter-recall-elections
plus loads more and remember this is a rapid expansion so long term data of hyper data centres may not be published
it can be gleaned from common sense approach to the facts available that these should not be built next to people’s house.

It won't be in our hands - it'll belong to Americans.

It will be if it’s sited in Texas instead, yes.

To have decent leverage you need scale. It’s early days for AI and currently the UK has more scale than you’d probably expect. Google DeepMind is headquartered in London not the US, for example, and London is the second global hub for non-Chinese AI after California.

What counts heavily against us in consolidating that is energy costs and data infrastructure. Which is exactly what Scottish power and space offers.

Of course we could decide that the race is already decided, there won’t be any more major frontier AI firms, and that we are perfectly happy being served from the US. I think that would be a big strategic mistake.

It’s not Scottish space if they build them right next to people’s homes.

Yes. With the Auchtertool project, they're using the argument that it will replace the jobs lost at Mossmorran.

My grandparents lived in the hamlet that was bulldozed to make way for the ethane cracker plant. (The hamlet - Gray Park - and surrounding area was originally part of Auchtertool Parish until the boundaries were changed.)

The original plan stated that the hamlet could remain - it was supposedly safe. Then came the reports from similar projects in the US and everyone was moved out.

Supposedly, the data centre will cause no problems in the surrounding area. That was the story with the ethane cracker plant: then Gray Park was demolished and when the plant was started up, folk in the nearest town (Cowdenbeath) had severe problems with noise and light pollution. (There was even a skit about it on Spitting Image.)

I have no faith in the claims that the data centre will cause minimal issues for the locals this time round.

No one complained except the locals when the Scottish Gov approved (and is still approving) hundreds of windfarms all over the countryside. Decisions are made at Gov level. So I’m not supporting you in being against data centres in the central belt.

Nothing our Gov does is properly planned or thought through - it just goes for anything it can boast about

But windfarms give us electricity, they are useful.
I live next to the Whitelees which was the biggest windfarm in Europe for years and is being expanded.

Data centres will use up electricity and water, and will be owned by a foreign company which won't pay tax so there won't be any benefit in allowing them.

I don't agree than nothing the government do is properly planned- their last moratorium prevented fracking in Scotland, so we didn't have to suffer earthquakes and polluted water like the people near Blackpool when Cuadrilla were fracking in the North of England.

Our electricity bills in the uk are so high (and discourages investors, new companies, apart from making us poorer) as there is a green uplift which pays the Chinese manufacturers, foreign investors and rich landowners to put up the windfarms then pays the landowners whether the turbines turn or not - they are not doing it as a favour - a double whammy

edit to say the infrastructure to transport the electricity to where it’s needed isn’t there either for much of it -I’ll thought through. Eventually this will be built but paid for by our tax

Exactly. Scotland has so much spare capacity for generating electricity, and that said capacity has cost and is costing lots. And that is why they want to sell it to someone who wants it.