There is no need for pylons anywhere on this Earth. Least of all marching through our Highland glens. Every investor worth their salt is backing space-based data centres for AI, because that is where the future electricity demand is coming from. AI and hyperscale data centres are set to double or even triple global demand by 2030, driven by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and OpenAI. And it's called space for a reason.
pace has nothing but space. Brora and the Loth do not. 400kV lines on steel pylons are yesterday's infrastructure: inefficient, unsafe, costly and slow. The hyperscalers already know it. Fed up with planning delays and grid bottlenecks, they are bypassing the grid entirely, turning to microgrids, gas turbines and nuclear partnerships to bring their own power. The real answer is not expanding the grid. It's bypassing it. Arguing over pylons in 2026 is like designing a steam train decades after we perfected air travel. Stop backing the past. Back the future
