Can I build a data centre in X? How to read the policy register

The short answer

Nobody can tell you "yes" from a directory. What you can do is find the rules that apply, check whether each is in force, proposed or only a consultation, and see who decides: the planning authority, the grid operator or a regulator. This guide shows how to read the policy register to do that for 17 places with full pages, and where to look for 111 more on the country pages.

1. Find the place

If your place is not in this table, the register has not covered it yet. That is not the same as having no rules. Try the country pages, which cover more places in less depth.

2. Read the direction label with care

• Opening up: the page found support such as zones, faster planning or incentives.
• Setting conditions: building is allowed on conditions such as efficiency, heat reuse, renewable supply or grid limits.
• Restricting: the page found limits that slow or block new sites.
• Mixed: support and limits sit side by side.

The label is our summary of what the page found on its check date. It is not a score and not a ranking, and it says nothing about how easy a particular site would be.

3. Read each instrument

A place page lists instruments in a table: the title (linked to the primary text), the kind, the status and what it does. Kinds used are Law, Policy, Programme, Planning, Grid, Tax or incentive.

• In force means the instrument applies now. Look for a start date.
• Proposed and consultation mean it may change or not happen. Do not plan around it as law.
• Ended means a scheme has closed. It is kept so you can see the history.
• Pages on the country profiles also use stated and exploratory, for announcements and early ideas that are not yet rules.

Always open the primary link. Our note is a summary written on the check date, and rules move.

4. Questions for a site

• Power. How do you get a connection, and where is the wait? See the interconnection queue and the examples for Great Britain and Ireland.
• Planning. Which authority decides, and is there a designated zone? Instruments of kind planning on the place page say.
• Conditions. Are there efficiency, heat reuse or renewable rules on the building? Compare PUE figures only if they use the same method.
• Data. Are there data residency or sovereignty rules for the customers you want? See data residency.
• Chips. Do export controls limit which accelerators you can import or sell? See export controls.
• Existing sites. Look at data centre records for the place to see what has been permitted and at what stage.
• Community evidence. Use the community questions guide to separate participation routes, concerns, commitments and delivered outcomes.

This is not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer or the relevant authority before you commit to land or equipment.

Sources

• Policy register: every instrument links its primary source.
• Country profiles: sources are shown per fact, and some are reported rather than primary.
• Data centre records: sourced facts per site.

Built from facts already on this site, written on 3 October 2026 and due for review by 3 January 2027. Each fact keeps the check date shown on the page it comes from. This is general information, not advice. Something wrong? Tell us.