Fears surrounding energy shortages in Ireland have scuppered plans for a new Google data centre in the country.
Documents published by the South Dublin County Council have confirmed it has rejected the multinational’s plans to expand its operations on the outskirts of the Irish capital.
The development was to involve the construction of a new 72,400m² data storage facility in the Grange Castle area, along with a host of other support infrastructure.
In its ruling rejecting the company’s request for planning permission, the council said it could not approve it due to “existing insufficient capacity in the electricity network”.
The body also highlighted several other objections centred around “green” concerns, such as that the proposed data centre could interfere with nearby flora, as well as an existing stream.
High energy prices and a lack of reliable energy supplies are hindering German companies’ production and investments, with a growing trend of industrial firms considering relocating abroad, a new survey has revealed.
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Ireland’s energy security has deteriorated in recent years under Green Party climate minister Eamon Ryan.
The decision to shut various fossil-fuel power plants in the country has proven problematic, with state energy operator EirGrid warning that the country was likely to continue experiencing supply problems until at least 2032.
Such shortages have already proven costly to the Irish economy. Reports by The Sunday Business Post in 2021 indicated that chip manufacturer Intel had opted to abandon larger plans for a multi-billion dollar expansion of the company’s manufacturing plant in the Dublin outskirts over electricity supply issues.
The tech giant instead decided to plan for a brand-new plant in Magdeburg, Germany, while making more moderate expansions to its Irish business. Intel has since regularly warned Irish media outlets about what it called the weakening state of the Irish energy grid.
Some have taken to blaming the country’s supply problems on the increasing prevalence of data centres in the country. According to information published by Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), more than one-fifth of Ireland’s electricity production in 2022 went to fuelling such installations.
This percentage share is expected to rise over the coming years.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner is taking the Twitter International Unlimited Company to the country’s High Court over its “Grok” artificial intelligence. https://t.co/0lTwBVhDQ9
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