Further danger ahead for Ireland's power grid as data centers continue to sap energy

There is an ongoing power issue in Ireland as the data center industry in the country continues to boom. Being the host of 70 data centers it is now the fastest-growing data center market in Europe. However, with data centers accounting for 11% of Ireland’s total energy supply, there are concerns. 

Speaking to Gizmodo, Paul Deane, an energy researcher with MaREI Environmental Research Institute in Ireland, has labeled the situation “as a serious energy systems problem.” Moreover, he outlined: “Data centers are big consumers of electricity and our grid is small. So if we connect more of them to a small grid, it has an undue impact.”

Despite there being discussions around the potential introduction of a moratorium on new data center developments in the Dublin region, grid operator Eirgrid has made a U-turn, saying now that they will review any additions on a case by case basis.

 

Of course, power outages are not the only concern here. As more tech companies are attracted to the country to build facilities, there is also the very real danger that Ireland will fail to meet its progressive climate action goals, like its push to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.