The rise of green data centres: Scotland’s opportunity to be a global leader

In an increasingly climate-conscious world, it’s no surprise the green data centre movement is gaining momentum worldwide. At a time when AI development and adoption is driving power and cooling costs through the roof, this shift is driven by the desire to manage data more sustainably and improve energy efficiency. It’s a sector that shows real potential and could bring large scale benefits to Scotland. However, international competition for data centre services is high. And, if we’re to stand out in a crowded market, we need to start leading, rather than following, and we need to do that quickly.

When it comes to Scotland, we have a natural edge. The country’s climate, geography and impressive renewable energy capacity position it as a serious contender for being a global leader in green data centres. 

In fact, back in 2008, ScotlandIS launched the Naturally Cool group – an initiative to attract mega data centre operators to Scotland and support local operators in hosting data closer to end users. So, it’s something businesses across the country have been shouting about for quite some time. 

More and more, we’re seeing new technologies to reduce heat and energy consumption in data centres or store energy more sustainably, like the Coalburn 1 project on the M74. And with the Scottish Government’s ‘green datacentres and digital connectivity vision and action plan’, we’re starting to see a bit of traction build. While these developments are a step in the right direction, they aren’t enough on their own. Yes, they contribute to the overall picture, especially when it comes to creating more efficient data centres, but the real challenge lies in long term consistency. 

Unless industry and government can coordinate their approach to overcoming key challenges – like infrastructure and skills – we risk falling behind as a nation. The global race is on, and if we want to lead, we need to be thinking beyond short term fixes and start focusing on how we can align our efforts across the entire country. 

The infrastructure gap

Home to Edinburgh, the UK’s leading AI city, and Glasgow, a region renowned for its innovation and talent; Scotland has a lot more to offer than just its convenient geography. But, to put it plainly, Scotland’s current infrastructure is insufficient for future demands. 

Without the right compute capacity, supporting energy infrastructure and reliable connectivity networks, we simply cannot meet the projected digital demands of UK-based businesses – let alone attract additional foreign investment. 

A disconnect like this can have significant knock-on consequences. In a global economy, organisations building advanced AI models or processing huge volumes of data will go where the compute is available, affordable and scalable. If they face barriers here - like high energy costs, insufficient capacity or unreliable access - they’ll take their investment and innovation elsewhere. With countries like Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Germany already making waves in the green data centre space, it’s something the nation can ill afford. 

Scotland’s 97% renewable energy is impressive but translating that clean energy into more competitive pricing for large-scale data users remains a challenge. At the end of the day, businesses have a bottom line and cost plays a major part. Especially when operating in such an economically turbulent and uncertain time.

It’s important for the UK, as a whole, to look at our energy pricing. Because without energy affordability, Scotland risks becoming a less attractive destination, despite its environmental credentials.

Data centre operators and digital-first businesses won’t wait for us to catch up - they’ll build elsewhere, where energy is cheaper and infrastructure is ready to scale. And that goes for every sector, not just data centres.

To stay ahead, we must offer end-to-end support for businesses to ensure projects are started and finished in Scotland. That means building a robust data ecosystem with enough capacity to serve UK businesses while also providing the scalability to attract inward investment.

Infrastructure needs skills, skills need infrastructure

Infrastructure is vital, but it’s not enough to build it and hope they will come. Without the right skills and talent, we won’t be able to use the infrastructure effectively. We need to be building it hand-in-hand to ensure whatever infrastructure is being created can be operated, optimised and innovated upon right here in Scotland. 

 If we develop infrastructure without the talent to operate it, businesses will look to recruit overseas. On the other hand, if we focus on talent but don’t have the infrastructure to fulfil the requirements they need, we won’t attract inward investment. And with a lack of employment opportunities, talent will look to move abroad for work. 

We can’t afford to prioritise one over the other. We need a coordinated approach – developing compute, storage, energy and talent simultaneously.

What action does Scotland need to take

In the long term, Scotland could reap huge economic benefits if we can realise the potential of green data centres. But the long term won’t exist unless we take action now. If we don’t address the skills and infrastructure barriers that are holding us back from being a global leader in green data centres, we will miss our opportunity. The world is heading towards a sustainable future and it’s keep up or be left behind. We have a natural competitive edge, but to get ahead, we must align our efforts across the entire nation – from government down. Only then can we make sure global businesses see Scotland as a trusted, sustainable, reliable and affordable location to store their data.