Environmental assessments required for large Scottish data centres

This follows a direction last month requiring planning authorities to notify Scottish ministers of all new data centre applications within seven days of validation.

Public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad said: “The Scottish government recognises that data centres are a rapidly evolving sector attracting a broad range of views, opinions and concerns, and that evidence on the environmental impact of data centres continues to develop.

“As this is an emerging industry, we have the opportunity to get this right from the start. The guidance issued today is the next step in that process.

“We must balance the economic and employment interests in developing data centres with national energy, climate and community wealth building ambitions, which are vital to our future prosperity, as well as the potential impact on local communities.

“Ensuring that an environmental impact assessment is always part of the application process will create a level playing field for developers and will ensure potentially significant environmental effects are considered from the outset.”