GRID CAPACITY
GRID CAPACITY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS IN IRELAND ARE COMING UNDER PRESSURE AS DATA CENTRES GROW IN NUMBER AND POWER DEMAND ALONGSIDE AI TECHNOLOGY… The problem with powering Ireland’s tech sector
Refusal of planning permission for a new Google Ireland data centre in late August has highlighted concern over limitations in the country’s electricity grid capacity. Ireland has emerged as a European tech hub, competing with London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt to attract and retain Big Tech companies Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Apple with its low corporation tax and common law legal system. Yet, as data centres expand in number, size and energy intensity alongside the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Ireland’s grid limitations are coming to the fore. Insufficient grid capacity was cited as a key factor in South Dublin County Council’s rejection of Google Ireland’s plans for a new 72,400sqm campus at Grange Castle Business Park. A lack of clarity around engagement with power purchase agreements (PPAs), connection to the surrounding
district heating network or plans to generate significant on-site renewable energy raised further flags for the Council. Ireland’s Climate Action Plan has committed to generating 80% of its power from renewable sources by 2030, specifying renewable energy generation sources must be developed with PPAs in place to supply data centres. Central Statistics Office figures indicate a rise in data centre consumption from 5% of Ireland’s total electricity in 2015 to 18% (5.3TWh) in 2022. With data centre numbers totalling 82 at the start of 2024, 14 under construction and a further 40 having secured planning approval, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts a doubling of the sector’s consumption to almost a third of total usage in Ireland by 2026. Housing computer, telecommunications and storage systems, data centres are energy-intensive operations which
require cooling systems to prevent overheating. Operating 24/7 year-round, the centres often run multiple servers backed by redundancy components and can consume as much energy as 100,000 homes. Big Tech is, meanwhile, racing to ramp up its capabilities in AI, which is widely described as an “energy hog” using as much electricity as small countries. Issues around demand outstripping supply, and the spectre of blackouts, have been raised by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and EirGrid, and a moratorium has been placed on new data centre developments in Dublin from 2022 to 2028. The issue is not limited to Ireland, with IEA forecasting EU-wide data centre demand will rise from 100TWh in 2022 to 150TWh in 2026. Estimates suggest data centre power demand will rise by an average of 10% a year, with total demand doubling by 2030.
22 | IRELAND’S ELECTRICAL MAGAZINE
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