Grange Castle is home to a number of data centres
24 operational data centres in the county
THERE are currently 24 operational data centres in the county, according to South Dublin County Council.
Concerns have been raised by numerous local representatives regarding data centres and their growing energy consumption and environmental impact. Data centres currently consume one fifth of Ireland’s electricity and are projected to use one-third in the next few years.
In February, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities’ proposed rules for new data centres in Ireland, which include a requirement that future centres would be able to generate their own energy and potentially supply that to the grid.
Also in February, Equinix Ireland Ltd was refused permission for its new data centre plans on the Nangor Road in Clondalkin.
An Bord Pleanála cited “existing capacity constrains in the electricity grid”, and the “lack of fixed connection agreement” to the grid network among their reasons for refusal.
At the monthly council meeting this week, Cllr Daragh Adelaide (PBP) asked for a report on data centres within the council area.
Adelaide requested a planning register reference for each centre and for details on centres that are “operational, that are under construction; and those within the planning process including those being appealed to An Bord Pleanála.”
In response, SDCC said: “In total, there have been 50 planning applications to date, 18 of which have been amendments to previous permissions. Of the 50 applications, 6 have been refused by the Council or ABP, with two of the council’s refusals currently on appeal.
“There have been 10 planning applications for data centres since the adoption of the current County Development Plan, with 5 being refused, 4 amendments to previous permissions being granted, and one change of use from a warehouse to a data repository facility being granted.
“An examination of rates data indicates that there are currently 24 operational data centres within South Dublin.”
