Scottish location included in UK data centre expansion as up to 100 new sites planned

Data centres are giant warehouses full of powerful computers used to run digital services such as storing data, Cloud services, movie streaming and online banking.

Construction researchers Barbour ABI analysed planning data and said the number of such sites are set to jump by almost 100, as the growth in artificial intelligence (AI) increases the need for processing power.

Included in the plans is a new centre in Strathclyde, with sites at the M74 Central Eco Park, Coalburn and Lanark.

Plans were submitted for the site, which includes a 7.5MW gas turbine unit, a 12MW solar farm and an industrial park, by C Capital (London) Limited.

According to the analysis, outline planning for the newbuild has been granted, with construction to start in August next year. The documents said construction was due to finish in August 2029.

Work is already under way to create what has been described as Europe's largest battery storage project at Coalburn in South Lanarkshire. The developers, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said the two huge neighbouring battery farms, one at the site of a former opencast coal mine, would store enough electricity to power three million homes.

According to planning experts, there are an estimated 477 data centres in Britain.

The figures show the majority of new sites are due to be built in the next five years, with more than half planned for London and neighbouring counties. Many are privately funded by US tech giants such as Google and Microsoft and major investment firms. Some reports suggest the UK is already the third-largest nation for data centres behind the US and Germany.

There are widespread concerns about the environmental impact of these buildings, with the largest one in the data analysed by Barbour ABI involving building ten giant buildings covering 540,000 square metres in Blyth, near Newcastle.

Some of these concerns include the huge amount of energy and water the new data centres will consume. Many of the sites require large quantities of water to prevent them from overheating. It has been reported most existing owners do not share data about their water consumption.

Meanwhile, plans were unveiled earlier this year to transform Ravenscraig, once home to one of the biggest hot strip steel mills in Europe, into what could become “one of the UK’s largest green AI data centres.”

The former steelworks in north Lanarkshire, which closed in 1992, would become a data centre with battery energy storage, using Scotland’s “growing supply of renewables", under the new plans.

Edinburgh and York based renewable energy developer Apatura said the £3.9bn proposal would create around 2,400 jobs, of which 1,044 would be permanent, with 440 considered onsite roles.

An independent socio-economic study calculated the centre would contribute an additional 0.4 per cent to Scotland's annual GDP once in use, according to reports. The plan is being considered by the UK government for support via its AI Growth Zone initiative, aimed at identifying the best sites in Britain for AI projects.

At the time the plans were announced, Russell Wilkie, director of Ravenscraig, said the centre would be “an exciting opportunity for Ravenscraig to be at the forefront of green data centres, which will transform Scotland’s renewable power capabilities”.