New data centres costing €5.6 billion have planning approval but no electricity to power them, an industry chief has said as the sector urges Ministers to tackle restrictions that have left big investments “marooned”.
Data-centre access to electricity and gas has been limited for years because of the risk of blackouts set off by the sector’s surging demand for power.
Although the Coalition promised in the programme for government in January to accelerate energy generation, several big projects remain stalled due to a lack of power and policy uncertainty.
“It is a serious stain on Ireland’s foreign direct investment record as a welcoming, pro-business destination that data centres have been built and rightly expected connections, but have been marooned,” said Maurice Mortell, chairman of Digital Infrastructure Ireland (DII), a group representing large data-centre providers.
RM Block
“This needs to be rectified by Government as a matter of urgency. Some €5.6 billion of data centres have planning but no power, with a further €7.8 billion in a pipeline for Ireland.”
Despite the State being a significant beneficiary of the internet economy in the first quarter of the century, data-centre curbs have led to anxiety that it has missed out on the first wave of notable investment in artificial-intelligence (AI) technology.
Data centres are buildings that house highly energy-intensive computer systems for storing internet, business and AI data. Restrictions were imposed in 2021 and 2022 after the sector’s electricity demand added the equivalent of 140,000 households to the national grid over four successive years.
Constraints on the electricity network have implications beyond data centres, retarding accommodation delivery and other business investment.
[ Data centres accounted for more than 20% of State's electricity usage last yearOpens in new window ]
The summer cancellation of a big Amazon jobs project because of the lack of power prompted concern about the capacity for industrial investment in Dublin.
Mr Mortell’s intervention follows the recent state visit of US president Donald Trump to Britain, in which a £150 billion (€173 billion) investment package included several data-centre projects.
He warned of Irish “self-sabotage” from the prolonged uncertainty over data-centre policy, saying policy drift has diverted tens of billions of euros in potential investment to other countries. “Ireland is effectively closed for business.”
DII represents many of the data-centre companies that provide services to tech giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon, which have big Irish operations and require data centres for their business.
The group’s members include Vantage, CyrusOne, Digital Realty, EdgeConnex, EngineNode, Equinix, K2, Keppel, Pure Data Centres and T5. It also includes data-centre builders.
“Ireland needs to commit to certainty on its data centre policy quickly, otherwise it will miss the next phase of investment into digital developments, having lost the first wave of it over the last five years,” said Mr Mortell.
“With billions of euros expected to be invested in AI and data centre development in the coming years, delays in addressing the challenges facing digital infrastructure risk jeopardising Ireland’s chance of securing this investment.”
[ Opinion: Should State allow construction of more data centres?Opens in new window ]
He said the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), which oversees the electricity sector, should provide a firm timeline for a new policy on data centres.
Asked about DII concerns, a spokeswoman for Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien said the sector was “central” to the Republic’s economic and digital future. She went on to cite a €3.5 billion investment in the power grid under the new National Development Plan. “The Government remains firmly committed to facilitating further foreign direct investment and supporting indigenous enterprise, recognising the importance of enabling new technologies and data storage capabilities.”
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities completed a public consultation on the connection policy for large energy users earlier this year, she said. “The CRU is currently reviewing the feedback received and will then publish its decision. The Government will carefully consider this policy.”
