Could a huge data centre revitalise Ayrshire - or ruin it?

A renewable energy developer with no data centre experience wants to build what it claims will be one of Earth's largest AI facilities on East Ayrshire farmland. ILI Group has secured neither funding nor environmental approval, whilst its water consumption projections differ from independent expert estimates by billions of litres annually. Hurlford residents now face the prospect of irreversible community transformation based on promises from a company pivoting into an entirely unfamiliar sector.

This is the reality facing locals who attended their first consultation in February about the proposed 540MW facility that would permanently alter their community for at least half a century. They're being asked to accept promises of jobs and investment from a developer whose only credentials rest on renewable energy projects like the Red John hydropump storage scheme. The company itself acknowledges it's still "investigating a variety of technical solutions" for basic operational questions like water usage.

The asymmetry is stark. Communities face irreversible transformation. Developers face planning applications.

Scotland's Accidental Role in the AI Infrastructure Race

ILI Group's Hurlford proposal sits within a larger cluster the company calls "the Stoics"—spanning sites across Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Fife. According to Action to Protect Rural Scotland, 17 data centre applications are working through Scottish planning processes at various stages, making the country an unexpected focal point in Europe's AI infrastructure boom. The rationale typically centres on Scotland's cooler climate reducing cooling demands.

ILI's spokesperson claimed the nation's weather means "cooling may only be required perhaps as little as 2% of the time" and suggested the project "could be met by harvesting rainwater on-site." Alex De Vries, who runs the Digiconomist research site, disputes this fundamentally. He estimates the 540MW facility "could result in almost 6bn litres of annual fresh water consumption" to generate the necessary power.

His assessment is blunt: "The relatively cooler climate in Scotland isn't going to do much to mitigate this." That's not a marginal disagreement over percentages. One scenario involves minimal water usage from collected rainfall. The other involves industrial-scale freshwater consumption equivalent to a small city.

For residents expected to live alongside this facility for decades, the gap raises obvious questions about which set of projections to trust. What makes this particularly significant is ILI Group's track record—or rather, its lack of one in this sector. The company's credentials rest on renewable energy projects, notably the Red John hydropump storage scheme in the Highlands, which it sold to Norwegian firm Statkraft.

The Substance Question

Greig Templeton, representing ILI at the February consultation in Kilmarnock, pointed to the Red John project's community benefits: a community fund, a water taxi, walkways. These are tangible additions to a Highland community. Whether they translate into relevant expertise for managing millions of litres of water flow, electrical grid integration at 540MW scale, and the specific cooling requirements of AI computing infrastructure is another matter entirely.

When pressed by BBC Scotland News, the company confirmed it has "interest from private companies" but "no confirmed funding yet" for the wider cluster, which ILI claims will bring "tens of billions of pounds in private investment" to Scotland's economy. The figures lack independent verification. So do the employment projections of 120 to 150 jobs ranging from security and cleaning roles to specialised technical positions.

Cheryl Rowland, a Hurlford resident who attended the consultation, asked the obvious question: would ILI arrange education and upskilling for local people, or would positions go to specialists brought into the area? Perhaps more concerning for residents is the absence of a completed Environmental Impact Assessment despite the site's scale. Templeton explained this as a function of the proposal's early stage, noting ILI was conducting its own assessment and consulting bodies including Scottish Water and SEPA.

Do they have the substance for what they're proposing? They don't have experience building data centres and I feel they're underselling it all.

An official EIA "may then follow"—a significant qualifier for a project claiming to be among the world's largest AI facilities. Student Lisa Beacham, who researched the proposal after its announcement last autumn, frames the core problem clearly. The broader pattern is revealing.

The Planning Process Under Pressure

Across Scotland, energy firms and developers are securing land rights and grid permissions for data centres, moving through early planning stages whilst fundamental operational details remain unresolved. The £2.2tn global spending estimate for AI-supporting data centres through 2029 has created a land grab that's reaching rural Scottish communities before the business models, environmental assessments, or funding structures have solidified. This isn't to suggest ILI Group's proposal will definitely fail or that data centres shouldn't be built in Scotland.

The question is whether planning processes designed for conventional development can adequately assess projects at this scale, speed, and uncertainty level. Residents leaving that February consultation in Kilmarnock walked into an overcast evening with more questions than answers. The proposal will return for two more consultations.

Planning applications will advance. Local councils will weigh economic promises against environmental concerns and community opposition. What won't return is the 100 hectares of East Ayrshire farmland if the facility gets built.

That transformation is permanent, regardless of whether the optimistic job figures materialise, the water calculations prove accurate, or the company successfully navigates its first data centre development. The risk sits almost entirely with the community being asked to accept it.