The residents of Auchtertool in Fife are campaigning against a monster AI data centre that is being proposed to be situated right next to their scenic village.
Just look at the size of this monstrosity. The 61-acre site features six AI data halls rising up to 35 metres high. It dwarfs the neighbouring village of Auchtertool. Imagine living next to this?
The proposed data centre is one of the biggest in the world - bigger than their village. And itโs estimated that the 600MW energy consumption with be 20% of Scotland entire energy consumption. Itโs also being situated on beautiful countryside. Fife Council havenโt published an environmental impact report.
The development would sit directly on scenic countryside, build directly over the historic ruins of Halyard's Castle, and threaten the adjacent Auchtertool Linn Wildlife Site. Recent planning portal filings reveal the data centre site would be secured by invisible infra-red lighting and 3-metre fencing topped with trident spikes.
This campaign to stop this AI data centre monstrosity in Fife is now receiving huge amounts of media and social media coverage. For once, people power can defeat tech corporations power if this campaign continues to be amplified.
This is a big issue. Not just for Auchtertool, not just for Fife, not just for Scotland but for the world and we have to make a stand against the huge environmental and energy and water supply risks caused by these AI data centres.
In Ireland data centres energy demand has put unprecedented strain on the grid. A moratorium on new data centre construction was put in place in 2021 due to fears of blackouts which was only eased last year. This energy crisis in Ireland happened with 22% of Irelandโs energy (2025 figures) used by data centres. The energy demands of the Auchtertool hyperscale data centre alone would take Scotlandโs data centre energy demand to this level.ย ย
The total demand for energy from data centres in Scotlandโs planning system is now 6,200MW and plans for six sites that havenโt reached planning stage yet, which would take the total to over 11,000MW, nearly three times the amount of Scotlandโs winter peak demand.
Also, rising energy prices: In the USA, energy prices have soared due to the infrastructure that has had to be built to support the energy demands of hyperscale data centres. Bloomberg has reported that prices soared by up to 267% more in areas with data centres.
Itโs time for governments to put the concerns of the public before the profit margins of tech billionaires.