Summary
- Defra has published a biodiversity gain statement for data centre nationally significant infrastructure projects.
- Biodiversity net gain becomes mandatory for NSIPs from 2 November 2026.
- Large data centre campus developers will need to plan BNG evidence, land strategy, delivery, and long-term monitoring earlier in the consent process.
Defra has published the biodiversity gain statement for data centre nationally significant infrastructure projects in England, setting out how such projects must calculate, deliver, and report biodiversity net gain.
Biodiversity net gain, or BNG, will become mandatory for nationally significant infrastructure projects from 2 November 2026. The new data centre statement sits alongside a wider set of NSIP biodiversity gain statements for sectors including energy, water, airports, ports, national networks, and waste water.
The government’s published statement for data centres applies to major data centre projects treated as nationally significant infrastructure through the Planning Act route, including schemes directed into the regime under section 35.
Data centres became eligible for section 35 direction into the development consent order process following changes that came into force in January 2026. That route is particularly relevant where large data centre campuses are functionally linked to power infrastructure, such as dedicated energy centres.
BNG becomes a delivery issue
For major data centre developers, biodiversity net gain is not a decorative planning requirement. It affects land take, site design, ecological surveys, mitigation sequencing, legal agreements, construction phasing, and long-term management. The requirement to calculate and deliver BNG can shape whether habitat is retained on site, enhanced nearby, or delivered through offsite units.
Data centre campuses are often land-intensive, even where the buildings themselves are compact relative to power demand. Substations, energy centres, access roads, attenuation, security perimeters, construction compounds, cooling plant, and future expansion zones all affect the ecological baseline. Early design decisions can lock in BNG costs or make later compliance more difficult.
The NSIP route adds weight to that process. Development consent order applications are already heavy on environmental assessment, consultation, and statutory documentation. BNG evidence will now sit within that broader consenting package, requiring developers to show both the operational need for digital infrastructure and the ecological outcome of the physical scheme.
England is seeing more large data centre proposals framed as national infrastructure. The pressure comes from AI capacity demand, grid connection strategy, and the desire to consent data centre and energy infrastructure through a single process where projects are physically and functionally linked. As campus scale rises, environmental obligations become more material to programme risk.
BNG will also affect site selection. Brownfield and industrial sites may offer advantages where ecological baselines are lower, but they can carry remediation, contamination, access, and grid constraints. Greenfield sites may offer space and future expansion potential, but they can create larger habitat impacts and stronger local objections. Developers will need to weigh power and planning advantages against biodiversity liabilities earlier than before.
Ecology is therefore becoming part of buildability. A site with power but a difficult habitat strategy may be slower and more expensive than it appears. A project with a credible BNG plan, secure offsite provision, and clear long-term management arrangements will have a stronger path through consent. For data centres moving into the NSIP regime, that discipline becomes part of the core development programme.
