Renewable energy firm ILI Group is planning a network of three data centers across Scotland’s central belt, which it has dubbed The Stoics.

Named after the Stoic philosophers, the data centers will be located in Auchtertool, Fife (Cato), Hulford, East Ayrshire (Rufus), and Newarthill, North Lanarkshire (Aurelius).

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Marcus Aurelius is set to lend his name to a data center. It's probably what he would have wanted – Bob3321/Wikimedia Commons

Details about the projects are sparse, though ILI says each site “has secured a grid connection, land rights, and has now entered the planning process.” It said each data center will “stand among the largest hyperscale data center clusters in the world.”

Update: ILI has confirmed the Fife data center will eventually scale to 600MW, with the North Lanarkshire site offering 400MW, and the Ayrshire data center 540MW. All three sites are in pre-planning, and if permission is secured, the first phase of the developments could come online by 2027, offering between 50-100MW each.

The facilities will be “green” data centers, though what this means in practice is not clear. The company is pledging a £15 billion ($19.6bn) investment across the trio of developments, and intends to take the projects to the "ready-to-build" stage with land rights, grid connections, and planning secured before selling to a developer. 

Mark Wilson, CEO of ILI Group, said: “With The Stoics, we are inspired by ancient wisdom to create modern innovation. These projects will provide the digital backbone needed to power the rise of AI and advanced technologies, while creating a green digital network that delivers jobs, investment, and ensures Scotland leads in the global shift towards a sustainable digital future.”

ILI Group is a Scottish clean energy and infrastructure developer with a portfolio of more than 4.1GW of energy storage and digital projects, including 1.9GW of pumped storage hydro and 2.2GW of utility-scale battery storage.

It has sold the first 450MW of pumped storage hydro power from its project at Loch na Cathrach, Loch Ness, to renewable power generator Statkraft, but could use some of the remaining 1.5GW to power its data centers.

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