Echelon’s plans put it on track to be top player
By Maurice Garvey
IRISH company Echelon, who announced last year it would build data centres in Clondalkin and Wicklow, has agreed to purchase a second Wicklow site at the Kish Business Park in Arklow.
It is understood that Echelon’s newly acquired site covers 60 acres of land, with development expected to be undertaken in two phases. The first phase could see the construction of a 100MW, 450,000 sq ft data centre.
An artist’s impression of the data centre in Clondalkin
A second phase is understood to have been earmarked for either further data centre development, or for the generation of renewable power.
Echelon Data Centres was founded by Aldgate Developments director Niall Molloy in the second half of 2018.
The Clondalkin site is located beside the M50 and the Grand Canal, less than five minutes from Grange Castle, Profile Park and Parkwest.
It is expected to be operated by staff of 100 people by the third quarter of 2020.
The data centre in Clondalkin Industrial Estate will have a total capacity of more than 180mw, with the first tranche of 40mw of capacity due to be available in the third quarter of 2020.
A spokesman for Echelon confirmed its plan for a second data centre in Arklow is part of expansion plans to be a major owner and operator of data centres throughout Europe.
The company would not comment on the size of the data centre, the required investment or the number of jobs it could create.
It is understood the Clondalkin and Arklow sites represented a total investment of €1bn by the company.
Echelon has expressed an interest in developing data centres in other markets.
In September, it invested £150m (€176m) in a 115MW facility close to central London.
