MSPs have rejected the Scottish Greens' call for a formal moratorium on hyperscale data centres but passed SNP and Labour amendments that pause determinations on new large-scale applications until national planning guidance is published, promised by the end of 2026. More than 20 Scottish data centre projects are at some stage of development.
The vote, held on Tuesday and reported through the week, leaves Scotland with a de facto pause rather than a ban. The Greens had sought an unambiguous stop on all applications above 50MW. That motion fell. The amendments that carried instead hold back consent decisions on new large applications while the Scottish Government finalises planning policy, with a commitment to publish within 12 months and full guidance promised by the end of this year.
Hannah Mary Goodlad, the SNP minister responsible for planning, set out the government's position plainly: "We do not agree that there should be a moratorium. That is not necessary."
Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens called the outcome "bitterly disappointing". Friends of the Earth Scotland also objected to the compromise. The SNP, Labour and the Liberal Democrats voted together to see off the full moratorium.
For capital already committed, the practical question is which applications are caught. Decisions are pending in Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and Fife. DataVita, which is expanding its North Lanarkshire campus, secured a £300m debt facility in August, underpinned by a £202m National Wealth Fund guarantee — the largest single financing disclosed in the Scottish market this year, and the clearest example of money that is now sequenced against a guidance timetable rather than a planning committee date.
Scotland has been marketed to hyperscalers and developers on the strength of surplus renewable generation and cool ambient temperatures. The counter-argument put to MSPs was grid constraint: projects that arrive faster than transmission capacity can end up competing with domestic and industrial demand for the same connections, which is the tension the forthcoming guidance is meant to resolve.
The pause lands in a wider context of restriction. More than 500 bans or limits on data centre development have been recorded in the United States and other jurisdictions, and Scotland has also introduced new environmental impact assessment requirements for large campuses.
The effect on deal flow is a matter of timing rather than prohibition. Developers with land, grid offers and debt in place can continue to assemble projects, but the consent date that underwrites a financing model has moved to an undefined point after the guidance is published. For funds underwriting Scottish digital infrastructure, that is a repricing of planning risk rather than the end of the pipeline.
Original source: DIGIT — https://www.digit.fyi/scottish-parliament-votes-to-pause-all-ai-data-centre-applications/
