Large data centre proposals in Scotland, from pre-application notices to live planning applications and appeals, plus the sites already operating. Each entry shows its council planning record, where one exists, and its other sources by type, so every claim can be checked against more than one publisher.
Circle area scales with MW. Hollow rings have no published capacity. Positions are approximate (town or estate level).
Proposed, in progress and stalled
Schemes from first announcement through to a lodged application, plus those under construction, refused or stalled. Most are large AI campuses still at pre-application, and together they would add many times today's operating capacity.
Operating
Data centres running in Scotland today, mostly colocation, bank and research sites in the Central Belt, Aberdeen and Dundee. Most are small; the largest, DataVita DV1 at Chapelhall, is about 24MW.
Planning and policy timeline
How sources are graded
Each entry lists every source we used, labelled by who published it. An entry counts as corroborated when at least two different publishers report it and at least one of them is not a campaign group or a commercial directory.
GovernmentScottish or UK Government, Parliament, the planning appeals division (DPEA), NESO
CouncilLocal authority planning portal records, news or committee papers. Planning records were searched on each council's portal for "data centre" on 18 Oct 2026.
NoticeStatutory planning notices published in local papers
OperatorThe operator's or developer's own website or press release
NewsNewspapers, broadcasters and trade press
CampaignCampaign groups and petitions, including the APRS tracker
DirectoryCommercial data centre listings and property agents
Some news sites block automated link checks, but every link here was found through search and checked on 18 Oct 2026; none returned "not found".
Proposal notice 0625/PAC/25 lodged 14 Aug 2025. A full application can follow 12 weeks after a notice. Decisions on data centres of 50 MW or more are currently paused for up to 12 months while national guidance is drafted.
Red: nearest building within 100 m, 10% or more of the site in a flood zone, or a designation overlapping the site. Amber: building within 500 m, any flood-zone overlap, or a designation within 500 m. Green: none of these. Measured from the council's application site; buildings from OpenStreetMap, flood zones from SEPA, designations from NatureScot and Historic Environment Scotland.
Overview
Apatura lists 399 on-site staff and £1.5m a year community benefit.
The developer's case
Presents the scheme as regenerating the former Freeport shopping village site. Apatura consultation site
At the 1.6 per MW study averageabout 400for 250 MW
Claimed jobs per MW1.6
This scheme's claim1.6
Industry modeltechUK, based on older, smaller sites8.5
Planned UK sitesVerdant study of 20 schemes, 20261.6
QTS Cambois, Northumberland720 MW, about 400 jobs0.56
Permanent jobs per megawatt of capacity. This claim is close to the study's average for planned sites.
Construction jobs are real but temporary. Figures for "job-years", "jobs supported" or "indirect" jobs count work elsewhere in the economy, not people on site. The per-MW measure comes from the think tank Verdant; techUK says it misses jobs supported outside the site, and the UK Government calls it misleading. The Next WebResultsense
Promise only Training through partnerships with colleges and universities (no detail yet) Apatura consultation site
Developer estimate The developer's own figure for what it plans to spend. Not a commitment.
Modelled estimate Comes from an economic model the developer paid for. Not checked independently.
Promise only Not yet written into a legal agreement (Section 75) or a planning condition, so it cannot be enforced.
Secured Written into a signed legal agreement or planning condition.
None of these benefits is secured yet for any scheme we track. GVA (gross value added) is the economic output a scheme is modelled to add.
Site and design
Land
Former Freeport shopping village
Worth knowing: It also counts its Apprenticeship Levy payments as a benefit. The levy is a payroll tax that every employer with a pay bill over £3m must pay.
The opening lines summarise in our own words how the developer presents the scheme. Items marked Claim are the developer's own figures, not independently checked.
The objectors' case
No organised objection or formal objections found yet. Know of a campaign group? Use Report incorrect data at the top of the page.
Site and surroundings
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Site centreResidentialIndustrial / commercialWoodlandRiver floodSurface water floodCoastal floodSSSI / SAC / SPAAncient woodlandHeritage designationListed buildingSchool, care or healthPower line250 m · 500 m · 1 km from the site centre
Over 50MW, the council must notify Scottish Ministers within seven days of validating an application (in force since 17 Aug 2026). Scottish Government
Over 50MW, an Environmental Impact Assessment is now mandatory (Direction of 16 Sep 2026), including for applications already in the system. Scottish Government
On 16 Sep 2026 MSPs backed pausing planning decisions on large data centres for up to 12 months while national guidance is drafted, expected by December 2026. Resultsense
For a major development, the developer must lodge a proposal of application notice and hold at least two public events, and cannot submit the application until 12 weeks after the notice.
