Scotland's first AI Growth Zone announced: a new era for data centre development in Scotland

On 13 November 2025, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (“DSIT”) published its Delivering AI Growth Zones (“AIGZs”) policy paper that was designed to overcome the biggest hurdles to investment: slow planning processes, high energy costs and delays in accessing power. The Minister for AI, Kanishka Narayan, affirmed that Scotland would receive at least one AIGZ in the new year. This promise was fulfilled with the exciting announcement that Scotland’s first AIGZ will be situated just outside of Glasgow in Lanarkshire at the DataVita datacentre. Once operational, Lanarkshire is set to become one of the world's leading AI facilities and to incorporate directly connected large scale renewable energy parks providing power that is both green and low cost as well as the grid connection and wider network advantages explored below.

Scotland's Strategic Advantage

Scotland is uniquely positioned to benefit from the AIGZ initiative. Scotland benefits from a cooler climate which reduces cooling costs for data centre operations, whilst the country's substantial renewable energy generation capacity and positioning north of the key constraints on the power transmission system makes it ideally placed from a wider electricity system and sustainability perspective.

These advantages translate into significant financial and investment incentives which we will explore in this Law-Now.

So, what does this mean in practice for Scotland’s first AI Growth Zone?

Grid Connections and Energy Infrastructure: Securing timely grid connection is a fundamental challenge for developers. The Lanarkshire site will now benefit from new mechanisms to give AIGZs priority access to grid capacity, including a way to reallocate capacity from projects that have dropped out of the queue. Working with Ofgem, the Government is also drawing up plans to allow developers wider rights to build their own transmission voltage grid infrastructure with the development of “build and transfer” and “build and operate” models for private-sector-led transmission infrastructure.

The Government has also committed to discounts on AI Growth Zone energy bills by reference to the extent to which their geographic position leads to savings on grid constrain costs. From April 2027, the DataVita site could see electricity cost reductions in respect of power from the grid of up to £24/MWh, a more substantial saving than offered in other UK regions as a result of the sites positioning north of Great Britain’s key Scotland/England transmission network constraints (see our separate Law-Now which goes into more detail on the latest energy sector reforms of relevance to the data centre sector).

These advantages in respect of grid connection and power will be combined, in the case Lanarkshire site, with ambitious plans for direct private wire connection to renewables (wind and solar) energy parks and battery energy storage systems to provide low cost and green power for powering the data centre and for the export of excess power onto the grid.

Investment Support: The UK government states that it expects the initiative to attract over £8.2 billion in private investment to Lanarkshire, alongside a new community fund of approximately £540 million to be distributed over a 15-year period. On top of this, the new hub is expected to generate around 800 AI sector Jobs and around 3,400 roles in the construction sector over the next few years.

Planning Policy Considerations: Scotland's planning system, anchored by National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), prioritises low-carbon infrastructure, regional economic growth, digital connectivity and resilience. The designation of Lanarkshire as Scotland's first AI Growth Zone represents a natural extension of this existing policy direction, particularly given Scotland's renewable energy strengths and its growing role in digital infrastructure development. 

Importantly, NPF4 already identifies green data centres as national developments, requiring planning authorities to identify and support such proposals. The Delivery Programme for NPF4, published in early January this year, further consolidates this direction by introducing a dedicated digital infrastructure policy. This formalises collaboration with the Digital Directorate to support the UK Government in identifying potential AI Growth Zones relevant to Scotland. 

It should be noted that UK-level planning reforms—such as the proposed Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) designation for data centre infrastructure—apply specifically in England rather than Scotland. However, these reforms signal a broader UK-wide shift toward accelerated, investment-friendly consenting regimes for AI-related development. Scotland's own policy environment is increasingly aligning with these objectives, with an emphasis on efficient and enabling planning pathways characterised by faster decision-making and reduced infrastructural barriers. The establishment of Scotland's AI Growth Zone reflects this convergence, demonstrating how evolving planning considerations are now being translated into tangible delivery.

Local Authority Role: Local planning authorities will be critical in AIGZ delivery. Applications must demonstrate sufficient power, land, water and connectivity, together with a credible plan to secure planning consent and the ability to deliver at least 500MW of AI infrastructure by 2028 as highlighted in the 2025 “Data centres: planning policy, sustainability and resilience” research briefing. Authorities will therefore need to consider proposals within the context of NPF4 and local development plans whilst managing the complexity associated with high- energy use and high infrastructure load proposals.

To address expertise gaps in local authorities, the Government have announced the creation of a national team of AI data centre planning experts backed by £4.5 million to provide a combination of direct advice and resource support.

Land Safeguarding: For real estate investors, a key development is that the Government may use safeguarding powers to protect land designated for AIGZ and updates to consultation processes to enable call‑in powers to intervene and resolve planning issues where necessary. This will prevent conflicting development on these sites, providing greater long-term certainty for investment and future expansion.

Looking Ahead

The announcement of the first AIGZ in Scotland marks an exciting milestone in the nation's technological advancement. By providing a supportive infrastructure and streamlined processes, the Scottish AIGZ aims to position Scotland as a leading hub for AI development and deployment.

Developers should position themselves to take early advantage of the zone designation and forthcoming planning reforms.

Please get in touch to discuss how these opportunities could benefit your specific projects.