Other countries could follow the Republic’s lead by requiring new data centres to build their own power plants as a condition of connecting to the electricity network, one expert suggests.
Regulators recently ruled that future data centres must have power plants or batteries capable of meeting their own energy needs and supply electricity to homes and businesses.
Other countries are now grappling with the need to balance data centre building with their high demand for power, says Eamonn Lannoye, Dublin-based Europe managing director of Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
“Whether other countries reach the same conclusion or not will be interesting to see,” Mr Lannoye said.
READ MORE
He noted that moratoriums or congested queues for electricity connections had slowed data centre development in many countries.
At the same time Milan in Italy, Spanish capital, Madrid, and other European cities, are emerging as potential locations for new developments, Mr Lannoye pointed out.
Data centres facilitate digital services including social media, streaming, email, online shopping and artificial intelligence.
This country became the primary location for these utilities on the back of its position as a leading European centre for software and technology services.
The Republic and other European countries will have to build more centres, he argued, although probably not at the same rate as the US and some Asian jurisdictions.
Why are apartments in Ireland so much more expensive to build than houses?
Mr Lannoye believes that the ruling published last week by energy industry overseer the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities will give data centre developers and other big electricity consumers here certainty.
“What we have done in Ireland is establish the rules for the long-term game,” he said.
Prospective new data centres could require up to 5,800 mega watts (MW) of electricity, close to the Republic’s peak demand, which tops 6,000MW, according to State companies, EirGrid, ESB Networks and Gas Networks Ireland.
EPRI is a US-based independent not-for-profit organisation that researches generation, delivery and use of electricity.
Meanwhile, Government has approved plans to draft legislation allowing data centres and other organisations that use large amounts of electricity to connect directly to power plants.
The Private Wires Bill will propose allowing this in specific circumstances including facilitating connections that tie wind, solar and other power sources at one point, for on-street electric vehicle charging and to allow a customer that supplies their own power to supply another at the same site.
Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, confirmed that he had secured Cabinet backing to draft the bill on Tuesday.
