A THREE-DAY protest against a huge AI data centre in Fife is set to take place this week as the developers come to the village.
ILI Group are holding individual resident consultations at the Auchtertool Village Hall from Tuesday to Thursday, a move criticised by local campaigneeiars who had hoped for a public meeting.
The consultations will see a maximum of two people speak privately with the developers about their concerns, with locals needing to book half-hour appointments in advance.
Leaflets sent to locals said its team would be present to “explain the application, discuss the technical assessments that have been undertaken and answer your questions.”
In lieu of a public meeting, the Auchtertool Action Group, a collection of local activists campaigning against the AI data centre, are set to hold a static demonstration outside the hall with placards and banners.
Protesters will gather outside the Auchtertool Village Hall on Tuesday 28 from 11am until 7pm, and Wednesday and Thursday from 11am to 7.30pm.
The village has been at the heart of a major community resistance campaign, with hundreds of people gathering at the village hall in June to coordinate their opposition.
More than 14,000 comments have now been submitted to the council relating to the proposal, with the vast majority expected to be opposing it.
The deadline for objections to the planning application passed on Friday and while over 1200 are available for viewing on Fife Council’s website, the local authority has confirmed that many more were lodged and will be added to the site following a standard review of if they meet certain criteria. This process is expected to take place "over the next few weeks".
The centre planned for Auchtertool would be larger than the village itself, with some on-site buildings measuring up to 35 metres high and span the length of what the community council has described as around 100 football pitches.
It's expected to consume more than 600MW of energy – more than Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest in Europe, can generate – making it one of the largest AI data centres in the world.
There are now at least 24 sites being considered for hyperscale AI data centres across Scotland, collectively producing a projected energy demand of more than 6.2GW, although it is unlikely that all projects will be approved or completed.
This would more than double Scotland's peak energy demand, registered as just over 4GW according to the National Energy System Operator (Neso), something campaigners warn could have drastic impacts on the price of electricity, and on climate targets if it necessitates more power being generated through fossil-fuel sources.
The developers have argued instead that the demand will improve the efficiency of the electricity grid by reducing curtailment, and the closure of the Mossmorran Ethylene plant means there is now spare capacity in the area.
Beyond the base energy demand, there are also concerns over the carbon emissions from data centres, particularly if they use gas or diesel to power 24/7 backup generators, which most sites would require due to fluctuations in renewable supply. Due to the site being in the early stages of planning application it is currently unclear what backup system it will use.
The Edinburgh South Gyle centre also faced backlash over its projected carbon output, which was calculated to be more than 200,000 tonnes per year, according to developers Shelborne Drummond, a total equivalent to a second Edinburgh Airport.
While water consumption is less of an issue compared to comparable data centres in the United States due to the use of a "closed-loop" cooling system, which uses chemical coolants in sealed pipes to manage the heat of the computing hardware rather than fresh water, there remain concerns over the knock-on impact the surrounding area could see in terms of heat gain.
This is because the waste heat generated by the computing chips needs to be offloaded, most commonly through large industrial fans.
While research into the impacts of AI data centres on the environment is still relatively sparse, initial findings have suggested areas close to developments that use fan-cooling methods can face artificial warming, impacting local climates and everyday life.
Commenting on the concerns raised by local campaigners, Mark Wilson, ILI Group's CEO said the firm recognises "why local people have questions and concerns", adding that ILI remains "committed to open, factual engagement".
He said: "We recognise that this is a significant proposal and understand why local people have questions and concerns, while fully respecting their right to express their views. We remain committed to open, factual engagement throughout the planning process and this week are hosting three days of community information sessions at Auchtertool Village Hall, where residents can meet the project team and technical specialists to discuss the proposals directly.
"This is an application for Planning Permission in Principle, meaning Fife Council is currently considering whether the principle of this type of development on the site is acceptable.
"Detailed matters, including the final design, layout and building specifications, would be subject to further approval before any development could proceed."
He went on to say that the site on the outskirts of Auchtertool "has been selected because it provides the infrastructure needed to support this type of nationally significant digital development. It is identified for employment use in Fife's adopted Local Development Plan, benefits from strategic electricity infrastructure and strong transport links, and can support skilled employment within the region, including opportunities for workers affected by the planned closure of Mossmorran.
"The development is expected to deliver substantial economic benefits for Scotland. During construction," the firm claims "[the data centre] would generate around £708 million in Gross Value Added for the Scottish economy and support on average around 1,900 jobs a year, hundreds of them in Fife".
Wilson continued: "Once operational, it is expected to support around 540 jobs across Scotland, including 262 in Fife, and to add about £67 million a year to the Scottish economy. It would also generate roughly £29 million a year in business rates, money that supports local services. Of these, 120 would be permanent skilled roles based on the site itself."
The employment figures of hyperscale data centres are debated and previous investigations into similar projects in Scotland by The Guardian, Daily Record and campaign group Action to Protect Rural Scotland have found that headline figures in the thousands have been inflated by temporary construction jobs and overseas roles, with permanent, on-site full-time roles often around 20-50.
He added: "The application is supported by extensive technical and environmental assessments covering landscape and visual impact, transport, noise, air quality, ecology and construction impacts, all of which will be independently assessed by Fife Council through the planning process."
The council has decided that a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required, despite the potential environmental impacts of the site.
"While Cato is a substantial development, the site's natural topography provides significant screening from many viewpoints, and around two-thirds of the site will remain as woodland, wetland, wildflower meadow and other habitat areas," Wilson said.
"Cato's electricity demand will be matched with 100% renewable electricity through long-term power purchase agreements and connections to nearby renewable generation and storage. Locating stable demand in Scotland also helps make use of clean power the grid currently cannot carry south.
"The proposals also safeguard opportunities for future heat recovery. While there is currently no district heat network serving the area, the necessary infrastructure has been designed into the project so that heat can be utilised if suitable opportunities emerge."
"We are continuing to explore opportunities for future heat use, including supporting local businesses and food production where feasible.
"Our application is supported by a comprehensive suite of technical assessments and environmental studies, setting out how potential impacts have been identified, assessed and, where necessary, mitigated."
The protest in Auchtertool comes amid a backdrop of community resistance across Scotland, with campaign groups being set up to protest developments in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, the Borders, Falkirk, Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire, among others.
Recent protests in Larbert drew more than 1000 residents and gained the support of Scottish singer Susan Boyle.
Kat Jones, director of APRS, who has led much of the campaign against hyperscale sites in Scotland, told The National that communities across Scotland are coming to her with different concerns, saying there needs to be a "strategic approach" from Holyrood to manage this.
"We are hearing from many communities who are getting increasingly concerned about hyperscale data centre developments that are planned near them," she said.
"There are a lot of shared concerns like the sheer scale of the developments, and impacts on the countryside and the climate.
"But each community which gets in touch has different concerns, sometimes it is about the impacts on their green belt, or biodiversity and sometimes it is diesel pollution and noise.
"This situation shows how important it is that we have an immediate moratorium on data centre developments while the Scottish Government comes up with adequate guidance and a strategic approach."
The protests have caught the attention of various political representatives, with MSPs from across the political spectrum raising the topic of AI data centres in the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Greens have called on a moratorium for the developments until planning guidance can be updated to better account for the huge energy demand and environmental toll hyperscale data centres have.
Current frameworks were designed prior to the proliferation of chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, which demand much more computing power than the small-moderate size data centres that already exist in Scotland and across the UK that power cloud computing services and networks that are used by banks, universities and hospitals. These generally demand no more than 50MW, with most around 10-30MW.
The framework also offers no definition in place to determine what classifies a data centre as a nationally important "green data centre", which are given priority in planning decisions.
Despite the First Minister and Energy Secretary previously distancing themselves from a moratorium and standing by the current frameworks, we revealed earlier in July that the SNP's National Council, a key decision-making body in the party, has voted in favour of a moratorium, with the party set to introduce a motion in Holyrood when it returns from recess.
