Data Centre Discussions on the Increase

Circa £25 billion is expected to be invested in new data centres across the UK in the coming years. Major players like AWS and Cloud HQ are already showing interest, supported by strong investment and government backing.

We are seeing discussions regarding building new data centres – large buildings which store and process data and other IT infrastructure – considerably increase and become more tangible over the last six months.

Scotland is quickly becoming a key location for data centre development due to its abundance of operational renewable energy projects, pro renewables planning policy, cooler climate and reliable grid infrastructure.

As data centres are highly energy-intensive, their growth will significantly increase demand for new and additional renewable electricity projects within close proximity. This is likely to accelerate requirement for new wind and solar PV projects.

Demand for data centre locations are largely dictated by their energy sources and electricity infrastructure. However, we are seeing developers consider both rural and urban areas (brownfield sites and Local Development Plan zoned sites).

It is worth noting that developers are looking to buy land for data centres, not rent it as is often the case with wind turbines and solar farms. Lucrative offers at commercial development rates (subject to securing planning consent) are being offered to acquire land.

If you would like your land promoted for a potential data centre, list it on our Renewables Connect Platform. Alternatively, if you are looking for land suitable for a data centre – you can join our platform as a Subscriber and search for potential suitable sites.