![\"ravenscraig](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_01JYPMDQ9BQEQHD9J67RV72XST.jpg\")
Artist rendition of the plans for one of the UK’s largest AI data centres on the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks in Motherwell<\/p>\nResearch firm Foxglove warned of ‘staggering’ level of resources required by 11 planned data centres across Scotland.Artist rendition of the plans for one of the UK’s largest AI data centres on the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks in Motherwell<\/p>\n
Massive new data centres planned in Scotland to power the AI revolution would use up to three quarters of the country\u2019s total electricity demand<\/a>, a new study has claimed.<\/p>\n Research firm Foxglove, which campaigns for fair tech, found the \u201cstaggering\u201d amount of power as well as water required by data centres \u201ccarries serious environmental<\/a> risk\u201d for Scotland.<\/p>\n Its study this month found 11 \u201chyperscale\u201d data centres currently in the planning system could use up an astonishing 3000 megawatts<\/a> of electricity supply once all operational.<\/p>\n That\u2019s equivalent to nearly three times the output of Peterhead gas power station, the combined energy of Torness and Hunterston B nuclear power stations when both were still live, or the total generation capacity of all Scotland\u2019s offshore wind farms.<\/a><\/p>\n Donald Campbell, advocacy director at Foxglove, said the \u201cconstruction frenzy\u201d was being driven by big tech<\/a> giants amid a global \u00a32.3trillion AI investment boom.<\/p>\n He told the Sunday Mail: \u201cThese incredibly power-hungry data centres will largely be benefiting profits of big tech<\/a> rather than public need on the whole.<\/p>\n \u201cEach one is using electricity which is equal to, or sometimes multiple times, the total number of houses in Edinburgh<\/a>. It\u2019s an astonishingly vast amount of electricity they demand.<\/p>\n \u201cThat will put a lot of strain on energy supply, particularly when we\u2019re trying to transition to a lower-carbon<\/a> society.<\/p>\n \u201cThat extra strain on the grid can also make it harder to build new housing<\/a>, because new housing needs grid connections as well.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they produce a huge amount of heat. Some of these data centres may use water cooling systems for their computing equipment which can have a very big demand on the local water environment<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The UK previously got in on the AI explosion with a \u00a3150billion \u201cTech Prosperity Deal\u201d announced by Keir Starmer and Donald Trump<\/a> during the US president\u2019s state visit in September.<\/p>\n The deal was put on ice last week, however, amid a row over trade barriers. But a planned \u00a331billion investment by tech giants Microsoft, Google<\/a> and Nvidia in the UK is thought to be unaffected.<\/p>\n Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!<\/p>\n Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.<\/p>\n You’ll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.<\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.<\/p>\n![\"AI](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_GettyImages-1168971531.jpg\")
Data centres need vast amounts of electricity<\/p>\n