The Scottish government is set to consider a sweeping moratorium on new datacentre construction after the SNP's national council passed a motion to freeze all projects not yet granted planning permission. As the Guardian reports, 24 hyperscale datacentre projects are currently planned across Scotland, collectively requiring more than one-and-a-half times the country's peak electricity demand.
The move threatens a central plank of the UK's AI infrastructure strategy, which has positioned Scotland as the prime location for datacentres due to its renewable energy capacity. The SNP resolution argues the scale of development amounts to "extreme overdevelopment." It comes as incoming prime minister Andy Burnham reportedly considers a review of Keir Starmer's technology policy, following Guardian investigations that revealed several flagship AI projects were "phantom investments."
Analysis
This is infrastructure realism colliding with political ambition. The UK government sold AI growth zones as a national strategy, but 24 hyperscale facilities drawing 1.5x Scotland's peak power was always a fantasy. The SNP motion is politically convenient for Holyrood but reflects a genuine capacity question every country chasing AI sovereignty will eventually face: where does the power come from?
