Adding to the controversy are the environmental implications of the site’s footprint. The Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS), an organization dedicated to the conservation of Scotland’s countryside, has raised alarms regarding the specific location of the proposed buildings. According to the APRS, the data centre would not be contained solely within the existing industrial footprint of the decommissioned nuclear plant. Instead, they claim the site would be built on land that is currently a majority of greenfield land. This distinction is crucial in the planning process; while building on "brownfield" sites—land that has previously been developed for industrial use—is generally encouraged to promote regeneration, expanding onto "greenfield" land often meets with fierce resistance due to the loss of biodiversity and natural carbon sinks.
The environmental concerns have been echoed at the parliamentary level. Laura Moodie, the Scottish Green MSP for South Scotland, has been vocal in her critique of the current proposal. Moodie noted that while the Chapelcross site, in theory, should be an ideal location for a data centre due to its existing connection to the energy grid and its status as a decommissioned industrial site, the current plans overreach. She suggested that the best approach would be to utilize the decommissioned brownfield site efficiently. However, she characterized the proposal currently lodged as "reckless," arguing that it endangers both the local natural environment and the stability of the wider energy supply. Her comments highlight a growing anxiety about how such massive projects interact with Scotland’s broader environmental goals and its infrastructure capacity.
The "reckless" nature of the proposal, as described by critics, often refers to the immense power requirements of modern data centres. As the global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing continues to skyrocket, the energy needed to power the servers and cooling systems of these facilities has become a significant concern for grid operators. This is particularly relevant in Scotland, where the energy grid is already navigating the complexities of integrating high levels of renewable energy while maintaining stability. The Chapelcross proposal, by aiming for the title of the world’s largest power capacity for a data centre, would place an unprecedented load on the Scottish grid. This demand comes at a time when the "AI boom" is putting pressure on energy resources globally, forcing governments to rethink how they prioritize energy allocation between residential, traditional industrial, and new digital sectors.
