Connecting university expertise on energy and data transitions with industry, government, and communities
Can Scotland be a global leader in green data centres?
The UK Government has a strategic objective to lead globally in AI and digital infrastructure and has designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure. Policy is focused on enabling private investment through AI Growth Zones, planning reform, and improved grid matchmaking, with regional development, including a significant focus on Scotland, central to the agenda.
Scotland is well placed to benefit. Its renewable energy abundance, geography, climate, and progressive government create conditions for leadership in green data centre development. However, realising this opportunity requires collaboration across government, industry, and academia, and a stronger evidence base to inform policy, planning, and investment decisions.
A research hub for analysis, collaboration and impact
The University of Edinburgh data centre research hub has two central aims:
The Hub draws on the University of Edinburgh’s world-leading research groups in electrical engineering, energy systems modelling, and operational research, and data infrastructure. Our pioneering AI research heritage dates back to the 1960s.
Research themes and projects
Academics across the University are undertaking research across several interconnected themes which address both the technical design and socio-economic impacts of data and energy infrastructure. Our research is supported by both funding bodies and industry partners.
From curtailment to compute
A decision framework and
interactive tool to help site AI data centres where curtailed renewable
energy is available, reducing grid constraints and accelerating
connections. See Dr Wei Sun's lab.
Data centres under market and planning reform
Modelling how data
centre growth affects electricity prices, congestion, and investment
signals under reformed market designs. See Dr Andrew Lyden's profile.
Probabilistic renewable forecasting
Spatiotemporal forecasting
tools to support carbon-aware workload scheduling and grid-aware
integration of flexible data centre demand (Dr Amanda Leni).
Integration with heat networks
Investigating how waste heat from
data centres can be recovered and used in district heating, with
analysis of technical, carbon, and social trade-offs. See Professor Daniel Friedrich's profile.
Cooling and water infrastructure
Development of a design tool for
assessing cooling and water demands at the planning stage, and a
pre-commercial device that uses computational heat for self-cooling,
eliminating the need for public water abstraction. See Dr Giulio Santori's profile.
Green SCEnEry
A simplified scoring framework for data centre
location, assessing Social, Carbon, Energy, and Environmental impacts –
designed for use by councils and non-technical decision-makers See Dr Ian Molnar and Dr Melis Sutman's profiles.
Data centre governance
Comparative legal analysis of how
regulatory capture, catch-up, and public participation shape data centre
accountability across four jurisdictions: the US, China, France, and
Chile. See Dr Michael Picard's profile.
Community impact and benefits
Research into public opposition,
community benefit schemes, and how lessons from renewable energy siting
can be applied to data centre development. See Professor Dan van der Horst's profile.
