Rules requiring data centres to draw most of their electricity from Irish renewables open big opportunities for green energy developers, according to a key Amazon executive.
The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) last year ruled that future data centres must meet 80 per cent of their energy needs from additional Irish renewable power plants.
The commission’s ruling creates “structured long-term demand” for additional Irish renewable electricity from data centres, Niamh Gallagher, Amazon’s country lead for Ireland, told the Wind Energy Ireland conference on Wednesday.
She argued that it should spur growth in corporate power purchase agreements, where companies agree to buy electricity from wind and solar plants, aiding their ability to raise cash and get built.
RM Block
Government climate action plans aimed to have offshore wind energy plants capable of generating 5,000 mega watts (MW) operating in the Republic’s waters by 2030, a target that the industry and the State no longer believe will be met.
Gallagher, who is also Amazon’s infrastructure and public policy lead for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, noted that the big offshore wind energy projects the Republic hopes to develop cost billions of euro.
Corporate power purchase agreements give developers the certainty that they need to raise finance from investors, allowing them to build the projects, Gallagher noted. They allow developers “convert ambition into bankable mega watts”, the Amazon executive noted.
The US group, a leading data centre developer, has reached agreements with Irish green energy plants capable generating 310MW of electricity, she told the conference in Dublin.
Rents and evictions soar as house price inflation slows
It ultimately aims to recruit generators capable of generating up to 800MW of electricity, the equivalent of two conventional power plants.
Amazon’s partnerships include a deal with State company Bord na Móna backing the development of Derrinlough wind farm in Co Offaly, which will be capable of generating enough electricity to supply 90,000 homes, Gallagher said.
The multinational is one of the biggest corporate power purchasers in Europe, according to its Irish chief. She maintained that corporate deals fund the construction of renewable power projects on time, on budget and with no subsidies and “at no cost to the taxpayer”.
Wind Energy Ireland chief executive, Noel Cunniffe, confirmed that corporate deals are responsible for almost 50 per cent of the new capacity that is coming on to the system.
Gallagher argued that while data centres’ energy needs are a source of controversy, the artificial intelligence (AI) technology they house helps to cut energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions.
Spanish utility Iberdrola recently found that Amazon’s systems aided it in cutting costs by between 10 and 30 per cent, savings it passed on to customers, she said.
