Should Scotland follow the English route on handling data centre consents, asks ALEX ORR
The Scottish Government’s latest planning direction on data centres means planning authorities must notify Ministers of data centre applications of more than 50MW within seven days of validation. While recognising the strategic importance of data centres, the ruling should provide greater national oversight of major projects.
But a significant gap in the detail remains. I suspect operators, planning authorities and communities would benefit more from a clearer and more robust definition of what actually constitutes a “green data centre”.
National Planning Framework 4 already identifies “green data centres” as part of National Development 12: Digital Fibre Network, and the UK Government has defined them as Critical National Infrastructure, on an equal footing with traditional essential services like water, energy, and emergency services.
Yet the Scottish Government offers relatively little guidance on what “green” means in practice, leaving planning authorities to decide rather than relying on a nationally defined standard.
In June 2026 in the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister stated: “In defining green data centres, it is for planning authorities to interpret and apply national planning policy to the circumstances of each case. They should consider factors such as renewable energy use, energy-efficient technologies, reduced water consumption and the opportunities to reuse excess heat.”
Without clearer criteria, an important policy designation could become difficult to interpret consistently as individual projects come forward.
England, meanwhile, has taken a different approach. Regulations made in January 2026 formally brought data centres within the scope of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) framework.
Developers can now request that qualifying projects be directed into the NSIP regime under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008, where the Secretary of State considers them nationally significant and the relevant statutory tests are met.
Previously, even the largest hyperscale developments generally proceeded through the conventional planning system, with local planning authorities making decisions.
Scotland does not necessarily need to replicate the English model. But as data centres become larger, more energy-intensive, and increasingly important to national digital infrastructure, there is a case for asking whether projects above a defined threshold, as with large energy projects, should have a clearer national consenting route.
For Scotland, the next step may therefore need to go beyond simply notifying Ministers of large applications.
A clearer definition of a “green data centre”, together with greater certainty about when projects should be considered nationally significant, could give developers, planning authorities and communities a much better framework for assessing the next generation of data centre investment.
Alex Orr is managing director of the communications agency Orbit
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