Data centres and wind energy

A chara, – The headline “Data centres could play green role” made me look twice (Business, November 22nd). It had a certain “man bites dog” quality to it. How could data centres, voracious consumers of energy, possibly have any positive green effect for the country? The article noted that data centres would be an “ideal market” for electricity provided by offshore wind projects, according to experts commissioned by data centre industry group Cloud Infrastructure Ireland.

Announcements of any wind farm project inevitably emphasise the power output in terms of number of households serviced. The public thus believe that this is where the power is needed.

We are told the country’s carbon footprint needs to be reduced. Therefore we reluctantly tolerate damage to landscapes, seascapes and habitats. But if, as your article suggests, the data centre industry wants to pre-purchase the offshore wind farm output, then neither households nor existing industrial energy consumers will in fact be using power generated from offshore wind farms.

The penny comes dropping slow. It would appear we are being misled. I am not sure the public’s benign view of offshore wind farms will last when it becomes clear that they are in fact being developed primarily to facilitate the growth of the data centre industry. – Is mise,