The Scottish Government is reviewing its stance on large-scale data centre developments amid growing concerns about their impact on the region’s energy infrastructure. This move comes following the collapse of a proposed 1 gigawatt (GW), £15 billion project in Irvine, spearheaded by real estate investor Martin Bellamy. Bellamy’s firm, AI Pathfinder, entered legal disputes that resulted in the freezing of its assets and ultimately the abandonment of the plan.
Bellamy, who is married to Darina Kogan—the daughter of Russian-Israeli billionaire Valery Kogan—has attracted attention due in part to his family background. Valery Kogan reportedly broke with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russian courts nationalised the Domodedovo Airport near Moscow, an asset Kogan co-owned. Bellamy and Kogan reside in a £9 million estate in the Cotswolds, where they are currently engaged in a dispute with neighbors over their intentions to develop holiday accommodations on their property.
Meanwhile, new proposals for data centres across Scotland continue to face local opposition. The ILI Group aims to construct a £5 billion, 600 megawatt (MW) facility near the village of Auchtertool in Fife. The project’s leadership involves notable figures with political and football affiliations, including Brian Wilson, a former UK energy minister and ex-MP who serves as an adviser to ILI’s board. Wilson is also chairman of the Celtic Football Club and Harris Tweed Hebrides. The group’s chairman, Dr Michael Kelly, a businessman who served as Glasgow lord provost and was on Celtic’s board until 1994, also plays a key role. The Auchtertool plan has sparked significant protest from local residents concerned about environmental and community impacts.
Similar resistance has emerged around another development in Larbert, Falkirk. Developer Apatura, backed by Liechtenstein-based Klint Ventures, submitted a planning application for a data centre in the area. Apatura currently has nine data centres at different stages of development across Scotland and reports interest from global technology companies—including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—in investing in northern sites. In December, Apatura appointed Michael Hunter, a former Google executive, to oversee its data centre portfolio.
In Lanarkshire, American AI firm CoreWeave has committed £1.5 billion to build a large data centre campus within an area designated as an “AI Growth Zone” eligible for UK government energy subsidies. The announcement coincided with former US President Donald Trump’s visit to the UK last year, which included tech industry leaders among his delegation. CoreWeave, which transitioned from cryptocurrency mining to cloud computing, has partnerships with Nvidia and Microsoft. Its CEO, Michael Intrator, is estimated to have a net worth of £4 billion.
Across these developments, concerns have been voiced about the environmental sustainability and transparency of such projects. Campaigners like Dr Kat Jones have questioned the clarity surrounding the ultimate users and purposes of these expansive data centres, as communities weigh the economic benefits against energy demands and ecological impacts. The debate underscores ongoing tensions between Scotland’s ambition to attract major AI infrastructure investments and the need to address local and environmental considerations.