Cap on data centres ruled out despite surge in energy use

The Coalition is set to resist calls from the Opposition to halt data centre growth despite a 31 per cent increase in electricity consumption by the centres.

New figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that data centres in the Republic used as much electricity as urban households last year despite a moratorium on new connections to the grid in the Greater Dublin Area due to capacity constraints.

Roughly 75 data centres in operation in the Republic last year consumed 400 per cent more electricity in the final quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2015.

The Social Democrats and People Before Profit have called on the Government to implement a moratorium on data centre expansion, as well as new oversight of the sector.

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[ Data centres Q&A: How big a drain are they on Ireland’s energy grid? ]

However, Cabinet Ministers have rejected these calls and said what is needed instead is a greater shift towards making data centres more efficient.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney indicated that the focus will not be on reducing the number of data centres but in powering them differently.

“It is important to say that there is no technology-based economic growth without data centres.

“We clearly have some challenges over the next two to three years in terms of the energy demand. But the medium-term vision for the Irish economy under this Government is a tech-based economy, full of innovation and growth, with high-quality, high paying jobs. To do that, you have to manage data and that involves data storage and data centres.

“The challenge for us is not to reduce the number of data centres in Ireland, the challenge is to find a way of powering them with sustainable and abundant power by capturing the potential, in particular, of offshore wind.”

[ Energy independence summit to examine how Ireland can harness renewable resources, Taoiseach says ]

Green Party leader and Minister for Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan said Government will “work with” data centres but that they will be expected to live within their overarching carbon budgets.

“The data centres are a really important and beneficial sector for our country. We have a huge advantage by having them here in terms of the digital industries that are based here that come with it. But they know, and they agree, that they are on decarbonisation plans. We can deliver the clean electricity that will give them a sustainable future here, but we can’t break the climate budget in the meantime, so we do have to make sure that they fit within it rather than blowing it.”

“There are ways we can do this, and we will get it right and work with these data centres rather than what some of the opposition do which is just blame them. That doesn’t work. You sit down with people, and you work collaboratively towards a low-carbon future.”

Two senior Government sources also confirmed that there are no plans to halt the growth of data centres or implement a cap.

Mr Ryan also said the Government is looking to replicate initiatives that would take the heat waste in data centres and use that excess to power homes, buildings and hospitals.

[ Cantillon: Data centre power statistics show Apple’s Athenry rejection changed little  ]

Social Democrats TD and spokeswoman for climate Jennifer Whitmore said the data centres’ energy consumption figures are “extraordinary.”

“What needs to happen is a moratorium on the granting and connection of data centres until the Government has a strategic review around data centres. This would need to look at how they can be more efficient. There is no real oversight on this, which is a difficulty. There are a number of centres being constructed and a number with planning permission who perhaps don’t have grid access yet. We need to know how many are enough, and what is our limit.”

A Government source said that EirGrid is now considering applications for connection to the grid on a case-by-case basis, in line with a policy aimed at ensuring sustainable development.

The electricity sector has a particularly challenging sectoral ceiling with a target of a 75 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.

The national grid operator separately issued an amber alert on Monday due to low wind generation in the electricity system and generator outages.

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