A report from Ireland’s Business Post alleges that major energy and technology companies have approached EirGrid, the national grid operator, with plans to construct 16 large-scale and five smaller-scale data centres.
EirGrid introduced an effective ban on the development of new data centre facilities in Dublin until at least 2028 following a ruling by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities last November.
The news that data centres were beginning to move outside of Dublin was contained in a letter sent to the Oireachtas environment committee by the CRU last week.
While there are data centres that will be situated both in the South and West of Ireland, the majority of the new facilities will be situated as close to the capital as possible.
Increased scrutiny towards data centres in Ireland has taken place in recent times and they consumed 14% of Ireland’s electricity in 2021.
This growth is expected to continue as EirGrid predicts that data centres could account for a quarter of Ireland’s electricity usage by 2030.
