Plug Pulled on Google's Irish Data Center Plans

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Google's (Mountain View, California) plans for a third Irish data center in Dublin have been short-circuited by the local council.

South Dublin County Council has refused planning permission for the 250 million-euro ($267 million) project at the Grange Castle Business Park, citing "the existing insufficient capacity in the electricity network (grid) and the lack of significant on site renewable energy to power the data center." Industrial Info has been tracking plans by the company to build a 72,400-square-meter (779,310-square-foot) facility that would have comprised eight data halls, offices, staff facilities and other support services on a 50-acre site. The company did not comment on the refusal. Google lodged its planning application in July and still has the right to appeal. For additional information, see July 10, 2024, article - Google Plans to Build Third Irish Data Center.

Google claimed that without the new data center it would struggle to meet growing demands from customers. Dublin is headquarters for the company's European operations and it employs 5,000 people in Ireland. The proposed project for a third data center has come up against a growing backlash against data centers in the country and the negative impact they are having on the supply of electricity. The country's grid operator, EirGrid, has had a moratorium in place since 2022 blocking the connection of new data centers in the Dublin region to the national electricity grid until 2028. Today there are more than 80 data centers in Ireland, which account for over a fifth of electricity demand, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Electricity consumption by data centers increased by 20% between 2022 and 2023 and power used by data centers has risen from 5% in 2015 to 21% in 2023. This is a jump from 290 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2015 to 1,661 GWh last year, a rise of more than 470%. Industrial Info is tracking 66 projects in the Irish data center sector worth more than US$5 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the report.

In its application, Google had outlined that the project would use an existing connection it had agreed with Eirgrid and that the environmental impact of the project would be "short-term," claiming that 80% of the electricity grid would be renewable by 2030, "thereby significantly reducing carbon emissions." However, the council still highlighted the project's impact on an already strained grid and the lack of information on Google's Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), among other factors.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).