Public engagement vital in datacentre growth – Daily Business

Demand for data centres is increasing as artificial intelligence (AI) adoption accelerates. With abundant renewable energy, a skilled workforce, a cool climate, and plentiful brownfield land, Scotland is ideally placed to capitalise on this growth.

However, while the economic opportunity is considerable, developers are facing a growing set of challenges with mounting concerns over environmental impacts and energy use.

The rapid expansion of AI, cloud computing, and data storage has significantly increased electricity demand. While there are just under 500 data centres across the UK, amounting to around 2% of the country’s electricity demand, the grid operator estimates that this demand could increase up to sixfold between now and 2050.

In addition to concerns over energy consumption, environmental concerns add further pressure, with data centres often criticised for their water use, particularly in areas where resources are already constrained.

Alongside these energy and environmental challenges, local communities frequently raise concerns about noise, traffic and visual impact. Misconceptions are widespread, including beliefs that data centres provide limited local benefits or place excessive strain on resources.

These concerns can delay planning approvals or lead to project refusals, even where developments are considered strategically important.

This situation underscores the importance of public education and engagement. Many objections stem from a lack of understanding of the purpose of data centres in addressing an increasingly voracious appetite for data, and how they operate.

Data centres are essential infrastructure, delivering economic benefits through job creation and regional investment, but these advantages are often not clearly communicated.

Far from being a drain on our natural resources, a plentiful supply of renewable energy helps reduce so-called constraint payments, paid to energy generators to switch off due to grid bottlenecks, thereby cutting costs for consumers. Additionally, water use can be substantially reduced through closed-loop systems or treated wastewater reuse, with waste heat reused locally.

Proactive engagement is essential to addressing these issues, with developers increasingly recognising the need to involve communities and stakeholders early in the planning process, to highlight the benefits and tackle the myths.

This includes transparent communication about energy use, environmental mitigation, and local benefits, as well as educational initiatives for planning authorities, who may lack frameworks suited to digital infrastructure.

Building trust is fundamental, with clear communication, transparency and meaningful collaboration helping to bridge the gap between national infrastructure needs and local concerns.

As demand continues to grow dramatically, effective public engagement will be critical to enabling the successful development of future data centre capacity.

Alex Orr is managing director of Orbit Communications