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Renewable energy ‘insufficient’ to meet data centre demands with need to ‘ration’ connections to them, Minister told

Data centres use vast quantities of electricity and there have been calls for a moratorium on such facilities

Data centres use vast quantities of electricity and there have been calls for a moratorium on such facilities amid concern over their impact on the grid. Photograph: iStock

Cormac McQuinn
Tue May 14 2024 - 06:00

The State’s renewable energy availability will be “insufficient” to meet all data centre demands up to 2030 and there is a need to “ration” electricity connections for such centres, new Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke has been told.

Data centres use vast quantities of electricity and there have been calls for a moratorium on such facilities amid concern over their impact on the grid and efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

The issue of data centres has also been contentious within Government and was at the centre of a row earlier this year between Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan and Mr Burke’s predecessor as minister for enterprise, Simon Coveney.

Newly published briefing material – provided to Mr Burke by his department when he took office last month – includes a section on data centre policy.

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It outlines how there are about 80 data centres in the country and that they “underpin other valuable investment in Ireland by the technology sector”.

However, the briefing document adds: “The economic benefit must be balanced against energy security considerations and our carbon commitments.

“Over the period from now to 2030, renewable energy availability will be insufficient to meet all the data centre demands above and beyond those already connected (including those contracted but not yet connected).”

The “current position” is said to be that “a clear and objective way to ration connections is needed if we are to maintain credibility and provide certainty to the sector during the transition period to 2030″.

[ Data centres in Ireland: the grey, windowless structures causing controversy ]

A note elsewhere in the document states that work is under way on a new large energy user (LEU) connections policy and this is being led by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU).

A CRU statement said it is preparing a “decision paper”, expected to be completed before the end of the summer, that “will set out the new connections process for LEUs”.

The Irish Times reported in March that Mr Ryan was seeking a change in Government policy that would block any future data centres that did not have their own carbon-neutral sources of energy.

This was opposed by Mr Coveney who pointed out it had not been agreed as Government policy at a Cabinet economic committee meeting two weeks previously.

The Department of Enterprise did not respond directly when asked for Mr Burke’s view on Mr Ryan’s proposal.

Instead it referred to a Government statement that sets out the position for data centre developments

The department said the Government has a “preference” for data centres that can demonstrate “a clear pathway to decarbonise and ultimately provide net zero data services”.

Asked about work taking place to identify a way to ration data centre connections, a Department of the Environment statement referred to the CRU’s review of LEU connections policy.

It also said: “Aligned to the CRU review... the department is committed to working with key stakeholders, including IDA and industry, to identify and support new approaches to integrating large-scale demand sustainably into Ireland’s energy systems that align with the energy security requirements to reduce fossil fuel demand.”

The department also said Ireland is “planning for a massive expansion in low-carbon energy” that will “provide for an increase in available power by 50 per cent from 2020-2030″.

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn is a Political Correspondent at The Irish Times

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