Edinburgh City Council to Vote on Major 213MW Data Center Project
February 2, 2026
A pivotal vote this week will determine the fate of a proposed 213-megawatt data center campus in Edinburgh, Scotland, a project that underscores the region's growing ambition to become a more significant player in the UK and European digital infrastructure landscape. The decision highlights the balancing act local governments face between fostering economic growth in a high-demand sector and addressing environmental and community concerns. Edinburgh City Council's development management sub-committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to decide on the planning application. Council officers have recommended approval for the scheme, which is proposed for a strategic 18.5-acre brownfield site at 1 Redheughs Avenue within the Edinburgh Park business park. The location was formerly home to the Royal Bank of Scotland's headquarters, Drummond House, a 330,000-square-foot complex that was demolished in 2022 after the site was acquired by developer Shelborn Asset Management. The project, first submitted in August of last year, envisions a "green data center" campus powered by renewable energy. The development would feature two buildings with a combined IT load capacity of up to 213MW and would also include a new public park. Shelborn Asset Management had initially planned an office and residential development for the site before pivoting to the data center proposal, reflecting the strong market demand for digital infrastructure. The council's decision not to require a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project has drawn criticism from some environmental groups. Action to Protect Rural Scotland reportedly described the move as "gobsmacking." However, the council's notice stated the site's urban, brownfield nature and Scotland's supportive environment for renewable energy would help minimize the carbon footprint, concluding the development would have a "negligible impact" on national greenhouse gas reduction targets. Approval of the 213MW facility would represent a substantial expansion of Scotland's data center market, which is currently modest and concentrated in Edinburgh, home to just nine known facilities according to Data Center Map. The vote comes shortly after the announcement of an AI Growth Zone in North Lanarkshire, near Glasgow, which aims to unlock up to 500MW of data center capacity. Together, these initiatives signal a concerted effort to position central Scotland as a more competitive destination for data-intensive investments, particularly in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Source: datacenterdynamics
