EDINBURGH Council will not pursue a temporary ban on AI data centre development, voting against the moratorium after a report found it would be legally and practically difficult.
The council initially voted in favour of pursuing a ban in March after plans for a 600MW data centre in South Gyle were rejected, with councillors telling the developer that the application did not make clear how it would meet certain thresholds for local frameworks and that its environmental impact was not clear.
Additional information when the vote happens.
The ban would have been in place until the council, or the Scottish Government, created a definition for "green data centre", the term referenced in Scottish planning regulation that classifies data centre developments as nationally important infrastructure, which campaigners have warned may give data centre developments favourable weighting in planning debates.
Now, the council has voted not to pursue a ban after a feasibility report found that “It is not possible to prohibit the submission of valid data centre applications," in part because they are supported by the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).
Environmental campaign group Action to Protect Rural Scotland has said that a lack of a definition makes it more difficult for planning officials to make informed decisions about new developments.
The Scottish Government offers no definition of what it means, or any requirements for a centre to be classed as green, and instead has said this decision sits with local authorities.
The framework was also designed in 2022 and published in early 2023, before the widespread expansion of large-scale AI infrastructure and demand for the technology. Instead, it was primarily intended to support smaller facilities underpinning cloud computing and digital services.
This also means that the predicted impacts relating to energy consumption and carbon emissions from their growth is significantly lower than the expected increase caused by AI.
Alys Mumford, the Green councillor who brought forward the original motion, told The National: "We know that Edinburgh residents are really worried around the impact that data centres could have on our communities and our climate.
"The Scottish Government has said that so-called 'green' data centres are vital for our national infrastructure, but failed to provide any definition of what green actually means despite repeated requests.
"Without this, developers are free to make claims about their environmental credentials with nothing to judge them against.
Since the South Gyle site entered the planning application process two other data centre sites have done the same, with more than 25 sites being actively considered across Scotland.
These include huge developments in Fife, Falkirk, Ayrshire and the Scottish Borders, with communities rallying against many of the proposals.
In the Scottish Borders more than 10,000 people have signed a petition against the Lammermuir Hills data centre plan, while more than 3000 people have done the same for the village of Auchtertool, Fife.
Commenting on the council's decision, Kat Jones, director of APRS, said: "Local Authority Planners and decision makers have been put in an impossible situation by the Scottish Government.
"They are being required to advise on, and take extremely difficult and high-stakes decisions, around a completely new ultra energy-intensive and environmentally damaging class of development. And to do this with no guidance or even a definition of the term 'green data centre'.
"Edinburgh City Councillors should expect and demand that the Scottish Government respect any moratorium put in place at the local level. Not least, because this moratorium is only necessary because of the completely inadequate guidance provided by the government around hyperscale AI data centres. This inexplicable and continuing lack of a proper definition of ‘green data centre’ is creating huge uncertainty for communities and for developers.
"Surely Scottish Ministers and the Chief Planner can see that providing a sentence in an answer to a Parliamentary Question by way of explanation for the term, 'green data centre' is completely inadequate, and not how planning guidance is usually provided.
"It is especially challenging for local planners and planning committees because the term 'green data centre' seems to have been invented especially for NPF4 and also seems to be a complete oxymoron when applied to hyperscale AI data centres with the energy demand of whole cities and backup diesel generators with the potential for a horrifying amount of air pollution.
"The Scottish Government must immediately put in place their own moratorium on planning decisions so that a definition can be produced and the due diligence done on the impact of hyperscale AI data centres on communities, our electricity grid and prices, and Scotland's climate targets."
The Scottish Government has not responded to questions regarding the lack of definition or requirements for "green" data centres under NPF4, instead saying: “Scotland has significant strengths as a location for green data centres – abundant renewable energy, a highly skilled workforce and a resilient fibre backbone.
“Our aim is to secure commercial investment in data centres that help drive economic growth while aligning with Scotland’s net zero ambitions and delivering benefits for communities.”
Answering a question in parliament about how a "green data centre" can be defined, former public finance minister Ivan McKee said: "It will be for the planning authority to interpret and apply NPF4 according to the circumstances of each individual case.
"To be considered a green data centre, planning authorities may wish to consider criteria such as the extent to which the data centre is powered from renewable energy sources; makes use of energy efficient technologies; seeks to minimise water consumption; and supports the re-use of excess heat."
The full report on the feasibility of creating a green data centre definition can be found here.
