Future data centres will have to supply electricity to homes and businesses under proposed new rules for the industry that regulators will publish on Tuesday.
The centres, needed for digital communication, are under fire as they consume one-fifth of all electricity used in the Republic, a figure set to rise to 30 per cent by 2032.
Proposed new rules published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) will demand that new data centres seeking connections to the national grid must supply electricity to the market that provides power to homes and businesses.
New data centres will be required to have generators or electricity storage that matches their level of demand as a backup. That can be either on the individual centre’s site or close to it.
Both the storage and the generators must supply electricity to the market as well as support the data centre’s operations, according to a commission statement.
The rule will apply to all data centres seeking grid connections from now on, but not to those to which the system’s operators, EirGrid and ESB Networks, have already pledged connections.
The requirement is meant to ensure that any new data centres built here will not add to pressure on existing electricity supplies.
EirGrid and ESB Networks will have to consider whether or not electricity supplies are “constrained”, in any particular area where a data centre is applying for a connection.
Both organisations will have to publish information and maps detailing where there are current and future squeezes on electricity supplies.
Data centres can choose whatever type of electricity generators they favour, either renewable or fossil-fuel-fired.
However, they will have to report to EirGrid and ESB Networks on the amount of renewable energy they use and the greenhouse gas emissions that they produce.
The CRU is due to publish its proposed decision on New Electricity Connection for Data Centres on Tuesday.
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This will set out the requirements that new data centres must meet before getting connected to the State’s power networks.
EirGrid and ESB Networks must consider whether a data centre can build on-site generation and its proposed location when dealing with connection applications.
The commission will seek submissions on the proposed rules until April 4th next, after which it will decide finally on the new rules.
Unless those submissions produce grounds for convincing the commission to change its mind, it is likely to apply the rules that it publishes today.
The commission is responsible for regulating the energy industry.
In a statement, the CRU said the new decision was needed to ensure that data centre development here was “consistent with national security of supply of electricity, network operations and emissions requirements”.
The decision is separate from an overall data centre policy on which the Government is working.
