The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has provided clarity on data centres, paving the way for new projects and reaffirming that Ireland remains open for business.
Data centre developments will continue to be permitted in Ireland. However, the new electricity grid connection proposals will introduce significant changes, including requirements to publish annual emissions reports and participate in Ireland’s electricity market.
The new policy is set to replace the 2021 policy and applies to all new data centres looking to connect to the electricity network.
Under the draft proposals, new data centres looking to connect to the electricity grid must provide power generation or storage capacity to match their demand capacity.
They will also be required to be capable of supplying power and trade the generated electricity in the market.
Another change is that electricity generation or storage can now be in close proximity to the data centre, rather than on the site.
Location
System operators EirGrid and ESB Networks will now assess the location of new data centre connections to determine whether they are proposed in a heavily grid-constrained area with no capacity for additional electricity generation or in an unconstrained region.
While they will be a required to publish their carbon emissions and report their use of renewable energy annually, there is no requirement for the centres to run on renewables, with plans now able to opt for fossil fuel generation.
In 2023, data centres accounted for 21% of Ireland's electricity demand. They continue to face significant pressure to be banned in the country, despite being critical infrastructure for a digital economy and the multinational sector. At the current trajectory, EirGrid forecasts that the data centre sector will grow to consume 13.3 TWh, or 30% of the nation’s electricity, by 2032.
SHARING OPTIONS