EXPERT OPINION
On land , under the sea
Scotland ’ s land cost and site quality are attracting interest . In May 2023 , Scottish Futures Trust / Host in Scotland , Crown Estate Scotland and Scottish Enterprise issued an updated Site Selection Report . In March 2021 , Host in Scotland , partnering with Scottish Enterprise ( SE ) and Crown Estate Scotland ( CES ), commissioned a report which drew up a shortlist of sites it says are ready for green data centre development projects . From a long list of 80 suitable sites , it named 36 prime locations from the borders to Inverness based on criteria including available power , renewables access , land scale and connectivity .
The updated 2023 Site Selection report allowed previous sites selected to be checked for their availability and updates on their development status to be included . Since 2021 , new sites for potential data centre development have been sought by contacting local authorities , various government agencies and property agents . This has resulted in an increase of five new shortlisted sites representing the best sites for data centre development across the country . Some of these sites are suitable for urban colocation use , while others are considered more suitable for rural hyperscale development .
Scotland ’ s mountainous geography is also a plus . In March 2023 , energy giant SSE said it would invest £ 100 million in a pumped hydro energy storage facility in the Scottish Highlands .
Going all the way back to 2009 , when the Crown Estate licensed its part of the
Kerr Johnstone , Director , i 3 Solutions
seabed in Pentland firth to tidal power developer , MeyGen , stories of the potential for 800MW data centres running on clean power have surfaced regularly . Swiss power giant , ABB , provided the grid connection for MeyGen in a deal announced in 2014 .
Diverse fibre connectivity to Scotland is improving . Tampnet Carrier is a Nordicbased high-speed network operator responsible for over 30 % of the traffic between Norway , the UK and Europe . The company has two routes from Scotland to London . One from its PoP in www . intelligentdatacentres . com
43