Data centre restrictions driving investment to other countries, says industry group

Curbs on new data centres are pushing big projects away from Ireland to other European countries, according to an industry group which is seeking Government intervention to tackle constraints on the State’s power and gas systems.

The restrictions followed concerns about the risk of electricity blackouts after surging data centre demand for power added the equivalent of 140,000 households to the grid in each of the four years to 2021. Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke was advised on his appointment last month of a need to “ration” electricity connections for data centres because Irish renewable energy availability will be “insufficient” to meet the sector’s demands up to 2030.

Irish woman says she will ‘never forget’ eyes of alleged rapist and chief suspect in Madeleine McCann caseTech giants such as Microsoft and Google, which use Ireland as their EU hub, have this year announced a series of investments in other European countries. Research by consultants Bitpower, an adviser to DII, shows Microsoft investing more than €7 billion in new data centre and artificial intelligence projects in Germany, Spain and the UK.

DII has called on Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan to establish a working group to allow the Government, regulators, utilities, State agencies and the data centre industry to confront barriers facing the sector. The group includes operators such as CyrusOne, EdgeConneX, EngineNode and Equinix. DII says its 10 members have collectively spent more than €10 billion in Ireland and could invest another €3 billion around Dublin “if the policy climate permits”.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

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