Scotland’s new data centre EIA requirement takes effect on 17th September 2026. Developments exceeding 50MW power capacity must undergo Environmental Impact Assessment where they fall within the industrial estate or urban development descriptions specified in the new Direction.
That qualification matters. The capacity threshold and the relevant Schedule 2 description must both be satisfied. The change is an operative requirement under Scotland’s planning legislation, rather than a proposal awaiting consultation.
The Scottish Government’s announcement follows a separate August Direction requiring planning authorities to notify Ministers about qualifying applications. The two measures deal with different parts of the process.
The Scottish Parliament subsequently added a separate parliamentary position for hyperscale schemes. On 16th September 2026, MSPs agreed that planning or consenting decisions on those applications should not be made until national guidance has been completed. That motion does not amend the statutory EIA Direction or itself create a legal moratorium.
When is data centre EIA mandatory?
The September Direction applies to a data centre with power capacity exceeding 50MW which is also within either of these descriptions in column 1 of Schedule 2:
- Paragraph 10(a), industrial estate development projects
- Paragraph 10(b), urban development projects
Exactly 50MW does not exceed 50MW. Equally, “urban development” is the statutory project description that needs consideration, rather than an assumption based simply on whether an address is in a town.
The Direction defines Data Centre as “a proposed structure, or part of a structure, used to house computing and data storage resources”.
Power Capacity, using the identical definition in the August notification Direction, is “the total proposed electrical power available to the data centre, typically expressed in megawatts (MW)”.
For a project team, the practical point is to establish what its advertised MW figure measures and reconcile that figure with the application documents. The definition does not use an average consumption figure or annual electricity use.
Is there also a minimum site area?
The new Direction refers to the column 1 descriptions in Schedule 2. It does not add the ordinary column 2 site-area threshold as another condition of the above-50MW rule.
That follows the approach permitted by regulation 50, which enables Ministers to designate a class of development within Schedule 2 descriptions as EIA development.
For a qualifying project, the Direction establishes its status as EIA development. The ordinary screening question about whether significant effects warrant an EIA does not provide an alternative route around that designation.
What happens at or below 50MW?
Data centre EIA screening can still be required at or below 50MW.
The ordinary Scottish screening framework continues to apply. Under regulation 2, a project within a Schedule 2 description must be considered against the applicable thresholds and sensitive-area criteria.
Screening then examines likely significant environmental effects, including the project’s characteristics, location and potential impacts. Ministers also retain powers under regulation 7 to direct that a particular project requires EIA, including a project within a Schedule 2 description which does not meet the ordinary thresholds.
A smaller capacity figure therefore answers only one question. It does not settle the EIA position.
The separate seven-day notification requirement
The August notification Direction took effect on 17th August 2026.
It requires a planning authority receiving an application for planning permission, or permission in principle, for construction of a data centre exceeding 50MW to send Ministers the required information within seven days of validation.
That information includes the application, plans and supporting documents, together with any accompanying EIA report or relevant screening opinion. The authority can provide links to documents on its website.
The accompanying Chief Planner letter expressly says the requirement covers applications already under consideration as well as new applications. However, the Direction does not specify a separate retrospective notification deadline for previously validated cases.
Notification enables ministerial oversight. It does not itself mean that Ministers automatically take over the determination of every application.
Parliament calls for hyperscale decisions to wait
On 16th September 2026, the Scottish Parliament agreed motion S7M-01177, as amended, by 80 votes to 26 with 15 abstentions. The final motion refers to hyperscale data centres and says no decisions on planning or consenting for those applications should be made until the guidance process it describes has been completed.
The motion also calls on the Scottish Government to define what constitutes a hyperscale data centre. That matters because the parliamentary position is not expressed using the same 50MW threshold as the statutory EIA Direction.
Parliament asked for national planning guidance, alongside environmental standards and assessments, to inform national and local decision-making. It said the guidance should address spatial, community and social impacts, asked Ministers to report back on its development by the end of 2026, and called for the guidance to be published in full within 12 months.
The original motion had sought a moratorium. The final amended motion did not use that formulation. During the Parliamentary debate, Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad said the Scottish Government did not agree that there should be a moratorium. She said decisions before Christmas were highly unlikely and referred to guidance expected by the end of the year, but did not announce a legal prohibition on decisions.
As at 21st September 2026, we have found no subsequent statutory Direction or published planning instruction which converts the parliamentary motion into a binding moratorium. The legal requirements now in force are the September EIA Direction and the separate August notification Direction. The parliamentary motion is nevertheless relevant to live hyperscale applications because it records Parliament’s view that decisions should wait while the national guidance is prepared.
Data centre EIA for applications already submitted
The September EIA Direction contains no express transitional exemption for applications already lodged.
Our practical reading is that teams with live applications should review the position immediately. Check whether the development meets the Direction’s description and agree with the authority how any outstanding EIA requirements will be addressed. Neither an earlier validation date nor an earlier negative screening opinion should simply be assumed to create an exemption.
Under regulation 3, permission cannot be granted for EIA development unless the required assessment has been carried out. This point concerns applications awaiting determination; the Direction does not state that it reopens or cancels permissions already granted.
There is also a statutory procedure for an EIA application which lacks an EIA report. A request for that report needs prompt attention because regulation 12 sets out response requirements and consequences.
What should a data centre EIA cover?
The assessment should be proportionate to the scheme and its location. The Chief Planner’s letter identifies concerns including energy use, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions during construction and operation, landscape effects, biodiversity, soils and noise. Back-up generators may also introduce air-quality effects.
These are starting points for a project-specific assessment, rather than a claim that every effect will be significant at every site. Schedule 3 also makes cumulative effects with existing and approved development relevant to screening, while regulation 5 sets the report’s requirements.
Build data centre EIA into the programme
EIA involves preparing a report, consultation and examination of environmental information, followed by a reasoned conclusion which feeds into the decision. It is more than assembling a collection of technical reports.
For developers and consultants, the practical priorities are:
- Confirm the proposal’s power capacity, project description and infrastructure
- Establish the scope of the environmental assessment early
- Allow time for surveys, alternatives, mitigation and consultation
- Check that the report and supporting evidence describe the same scheme as the application
Regulation 5 requires competent experts to prepare the EIA report. A formal scoping opinion can help identify the information required; the normal period under regulation 17 is 35 days, unless a longer period is agreed.
The assessment also affects the application programme. Regulation 49 ties the relevant determination timetable to the later of the application being made and the EIA report being submitted.
A Scottish requirement
This Direction applies across Scotland. It does not amend the EIA rules in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Planning Geek’s EIA screening and scoping guide explains the English process, so its procedural detail should not be transferred to a Scottish application.
The data centre EIA Direction is also separate from Scotland’s proposed Major Projects Office and wider planning reforms. For a live Scottish data centre proposal, the operative Direction and current assessment requirements are the immediate starting point.
Updated: 21st September 2026 This article was revised following the Scottish Parliament’s motion concerning hyperscale data-centre decisions and national planning guidance.
Prepared: 17th September 2026
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