New rules planned for data centres in Scotland
Key Points
- The Scottish Government will publish a strategy for attracting responsible green data centre investment
- It will set expectations on environmental sustainability, resource use, community benefit and economic value
- No publication date, sites or investment targets have been given
- Data and Digital Technologies is one of Scotland's four named innovation priorities
- AI Scotland, a Scottish Innovation Fund and a High Growth Unit were announced in the same programme
The Scottish Government will publish a national strategy for attracting data centre investment, with conditions attached on environmental sustainability, resource use and community benefit.
The plan appears in the Programme for Government 2026-31, published by the Scottish Government this week, which describes the goal as attracting and securing “responsible green data centre investment” in Scotland.
The government said the strategy would set clear expectations around environmental sustainability, resource use, community benefit and the economic and strategic value these developments should deliver.
It did not set a publication date for the strategy, and it did not name specific sites, operators or investment targets.
The commitment forms part of the government’s plans for growing the economy, in which it names Data and Digital Technologies as one of Scotland’s four innovation priorities alongside Energy Transition, Health and Life Sciences, and Advanced Manufacturing.
The government said Scotland has been the UK’s leading destination for foreign direct investment projects outside London for the eleventh consecutive year.
It added that growth in Scotland’s tech ecosystem in the five years since the 2020 Logan Review has outpaced the UK and equivalent EU nations.
Alongside the data centre strategy, the government committed to developing AI Scotland as a flagship international programme intended to build public trust and confidence in AI and provide a distinct national voice on the economic and societal questions AI raises.
It will also work with the Scottish National Investment Bank to launch a Scottish Innovation Fund focused on university spinouts, and it will establish a High Growth Unit working with senior industry leaders to help high-potential businesses scale in Scotland.
The government said it would use its Cluster Development Programme to strengthen advanced technology clusters in space, robotics, quantum, photonics, life sciences, offshore wind, fintech and the built environment.
