Private prototype. Facts from research on 2 to 3 October 2026; not yet reviewed for publication. Forms do not submit.

All schemes

Early stageScotland, Scotland

Wester Hermiston data centre campus (Riccarton / Currie, Edinburgh)

At pre-application stage with no planning application found. The council screened out an EIA (re-screening reportedly 6 May 2026), but on 17 August 2026 Scottish Ministers directed that an EIA is required, so any application will need an EIA Report. Apatura's own timeline (Q1-Q2 2026 submission) has slipped. [S1] [S2] [S4] [S6]

Key facts

Status
Early stage (screening or scoping) [S1] [S2] [S4] [S6]
Decided by
City of Edinburgh Council (no planning application found); Scottish Ministers have directed that an EIA is required [S1] [S2] [S4]
Applicant
Apatura DC Project 11 Ltd (per Edinburgh News) [S2] [S5]
Developer or backer
Apatura
References
25/03978/PAN; 25/02924/SCR; 25/05576/SCR
Location
Green Belt farmland north of Heriot-Watt University's Riccarton campus, west of Hermiston and the City Bypass, Edinburgh; connection planned to Currie substation [S3] [S5] [S9]
IT capacity
200MW [S2] [S5] [S9]
Site area
24 ha [S2] [S5] [S9]
Buildings
Three data halls (48MW, 48MW and 36MW, totalling 132MW) per the energy statement [S2] [S5] [S9]
On-site generation
Rooftop solar PV; potential waste heat export to a future district heating network (energy statement) [S5] [S6] [S9]
Backup generators
Campaigners claim up to 60 diesel generators (39,540 litres an hour if all run). Developer documents reviewed did not state a number. [S5] [S6] [S9]
Cooling and water
Free-cooling air-cooled chillers for data halls (energy statement). Campaigners raise unresolved water demand. [S5] [S6] [S9]
Designations
Green Belt; Prime agricultural land (campaigners say Class 2); Adjacent Union Canal corridor (campaigners) [S1] [S2] [S3] [S6] [S7]
Previous use
Agricultural farmland [S1] [S2] [S3] [S6] [S7]
Environmental assessment
Council screening: no EIA required. Scottish Ministers direction of 17 August 2026: EIA required. Edinburgh News reports Apatura had indicated it would carry out an EIA voluntarily. [S1] [S2] [S3] [S6] [S7]

Timeline

  1. 1 August 2025
    Proposal of application notice 25/03978/PAN reported as agreed (APRS; stale page) [S3]
  2. 28 November 2025
    Apatura energy statement for 'P108 Currie' dated (design-stage document, not an application) [S9]
  3. 19 December 2025
    EIA re-screening request reported validated by the council (APRS; last checked 23 February 2026) [S3]
  4. 17 March 2026
    Change.org petition launched [S7]
  5. 6 May 2026
    Council re-screening reportedly issued, EIA waived (campaign fact sheet only) [S6]
  6. 17 August 2026
    Scottish Ministers direct that an EIA is required, overriding the council's screening [S1] [S2]
  7. 16 September 2026
    Scottish Parliament votes that no hyperscale planning decisions be made until national guidance is complete [S14]
  8. 17 September 2026
    Ministers' EIA direction for all data centres over 50MW comes into force [S13]

Politicians and organisations

  • Edinburgh South West petition targets Dr Scott Arthur MP and Simita Kumar MSP (a reply from Ms Kumar is posted as a petition update; content not read)
  • West Edinburgh Against AI Data Centres
  • APRS
  • The Cockburn Association (commentary on Edinburgh's western edge)

Claims

Claims by developers, campaigners or councils, recorded as claims and not checked as fact.

  • Apatura (reported by Resultsense, 21 September 2026) (developer): 332 on-site jobs and GBP1.2m a year community benefit [S11]
  • Apatura consultation website (possibly out of date) (developer): Grid connection to Currie substation secured Q2 2025; operational 2030 [S5]
  • West Edinburgh Against AI Data Centres (campaign fact sheet) (campaigners): Year-1 emissions of 139,147 tCO2e; up to 60 diesel generators; about 213MW continuous demand; 30.5 ha of Class 2 farmland lost [S6]
  • Foxglove (campaigners): Over 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas a year at each of the two Edinburgh sites [S10]

Campaigns

Sources

  1. [S1] Data centre planning direction. Scottish Government, 17 August 2026. Level 1 source.
  2. [S2] Scottish Government intervenes over two proposed data centres in Edinburgh. Edinburgh News, 17 August 2026. Level 4 source.
  3. [S3] Apatura Wester Hermiston (Edinburgh) site page (last checked by APRS 23 February 2026). APRS. Level 6 source.
  4. [S4] Data Centre Map (status table, last updated 13 August 2026). APRS, 13 August 2026. Level 6 source.
  5. [S5] Wester Hermiston AI Data Campus - the project. Apatura (consultation website). Level 3 source.
  6. [S6] Campaign fact sheet, updated 2 July 2026. Change.org (Gordon Fraser), 2 July 2026. Level 6 source.
  7. [S7] Petition: STOP Hyperscale AI DATA CENTRE at Hermiston, Edinburgh. Change.org (Gordon Fraser), 17 March 2026. Level 6 source.
  8. [S8] Petition: Edinburgh South West open letter against AI data centre. Change.org (Gordon Fraser), 25 August 2026. Level 6 source.
  9. [S9] Apatura Energy - P108 Currie, Wester Hermiston Energy Statement (28 November 2025). Apatura Energy (hosted by APRS), 28 November 2025. Level 3 source.
  10. [S10] Edinburgh Council - require Environmental Impact Assessments for massive new data centres. Foxglove, 9 December 2025. Level 6 source.
  11. [S11] Apatura claims almost 2,100 jobs at Scottish data centres. Resultsense, 21 September 2026. Level 5 source.
  12. [S12] Petition update: URGENT CALL for the First Minister's Intervention. Change.org (Gordon Fraser), 28 April 2026. Level 6 source.
  13. [S13] Data centres: Chief Planner Letter and EIA Direction. Scottish Government, 16 September 2026. Level 1 source.
  14. [S14] MSPs reject datacentre moratorium but pause planning decisions. Computer Weekly, 17 September 2026. Level 5 source.
  15. [S15] Data Centres, Green Claims and Edinburgh's Western Edge. The Cockburn Association, 1 June 2026. Level 6 source.