Scotland announced on September 16, 2026, that any new datacentres exceeding 50 megawatts must undergo mandatory environmental assessments as part of the planning process, tightening oversight ahead of an anticipated vote on a broader moratorium.
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Government announces before vote on moratorium that any projects above 50MW must submit assessments in planning process Large-scale datacentres will face mandatory environmental assessments before they can go ahead, the Scottish government has announced, amid growing public concern about the impact of the AI boom. Ahead of a vote on a moratorium on new hyperscale datacentres in Holyrood on Wednesd
this outlet adds: theguardian, news, 2026
Scotland imposes mandatory environmental assessments on new datacentres https://www. theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/s ep/16/datacentres-scotland-environmental-assessments-ai-boom?CMP=share_btn_url