Regulators will press ahead with controversial plans to demand that new data centres must supply electricity to homes and businesses in return for power grid connections, it has emerged.
Energy industry overseer, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU), proposed the rule in February when it published draft measures to counter increased electricity demand from new data centres.
The commission is likely to publish its final ruling within days and sources do not expect that the regulator will change the key elements of the plan published earlier this year.
Those included requiring that new data centres have power plants or batteries, on site or close by, that match the facilities’ own energy demands.
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The generators or batteries must supply electricity to the market, that is, homes, businesses and other customers, as well as supporting data centres’ operations.
The rule will apply to all data centres seeking grid connections from now on, but not to those to which the electricity system’s operators, EirGrid and ESB Networks, have already pledged connections.
Regulators aim to facilitate data centres seeking electricity connections, while taking pressure on supplies into account, the commission pointed out when it published the plan.
“This proposed decision is part of the response needed to ensure that continued data centre development is consistent with national security of supply of electricity, network operations and emissions requirements,” said a statement.
National electricity grid manager, EirGrid and State company, ESB Networks, will also have to consider whether electricity supplies are already tight in areas where centre apply for connections.
In response, industry group Digital Infrastructure Ireland (DII) told the commission that building power plants on the same site “was not attractive” for its members.
“Their construction can double the cost of building a data centre,“ said DII. “Their operation is complex and expensive. Planning and licensing add additional uncertainty. Emissions are more difficult to mitigate.”
Classing data centres as electricity suppliers could create further difficulties if it means they have to join the Emissions Trading Scheme, which is meant to make businesses pay for the greenhouse gas they produce.
DII conceded that energy storage – batteries – could help ease the load on the State’s electricity network, but argued that the system itself also needed this backup.
They could invest in electricity grid-scale batteries but should not be required to do so, the organisation said.
Groups such as DII have been speculating for several weeks that the final recommendation was due from the CRU.
The commission has not commented on timing. It is understood that it will publish the final ruling no later than next week.
The Republic had a pioneering role in data centre development but the industry came under fire four years ago as electricity supplies here became squeezed.
The centres consume one-fifth of all electricity used in the Republic, a figure set to rise to 30 per cent by 2032.
Advocates point out that data centres are critical to digital communication and that they support everyday activities from online shopping and banking to streaming movies and music.
