One issue has been raised with me more than any other by constituents this summer, the surge in applications to build ‘hyperscale’ data centres.
Dozens of proposals have been lodged all over Scotland to build these huge developments.
If they get the go-ahead, the first twenty-four applications alone would use one and a half times Scotland’s total peak energy demand right now.
That is clearly absurd but more importantly, it is obviously not possible.
For months now the Scottish Greens have called on the Scottish Government to get a grip on this wave of hyperscale data centre proposals.
They need to hit pause on every one of them while they work out how to handle them.
As it stands, a data centre which would use the equivalent electricity as a million homes can be proposed and not even be subject to an environmental impact assessment before councillors vote on whether or not to approve it.
We know that hyperscale data centres are a massive strain on our energy grid.
Parts of London have stopped new housing developments because the demands of local data centres mean there isn’t the grid capacity to power new homes.
And those huge energy demands would inevitably push up everyone’s bills, not to mention the impact they would have on our climate.
Regular data centres are low-impact and they’re essential if we want the internet to exist.
This new wave of hyperscale data centres are completely different.
They are cashing in on the AI boom and they need vast amounts of electricity and water to do so.
Instead of benefiting local economies, the wealth they create will go straight to the billionaire owners of tech companies like Meta (owners of Facebook).
Local communities will face all of the costs and see little benefit.
In Scotland we can generate huge amounts of power very cheaply by using renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
More wind farms should lead to lower bills, but that won’t happen if all the energy they generate (and more) is being used to power these data centres rather than our homes.
When we see more wind turbines and solar panels going up, that should mean more clean energy for our homes and cheaper energy bills.
It shouldn’t be going straight into huge, wasteful data centres just to make tech billionaires like Elon Musk even richer.
Councils are being expected to decide on these applications without any adequate guidance from the Scottish Government.
The risks are enormous and the benefits to communities and to our national economy are basically non-existent.
It’s time to hit pause and develop a clear national strategy before a single decision is made on hyperscale data centres.
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