The Government will publish a revised policy for large energy users, including data centres, in coming weeks, Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien has said.
It will ensure better planning, provide certainty for future investment and balance increasing demand across the economy, he told the annual energy conference of law firm Mason Hayes & Curran (MHC).
Following work with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, the revised policy would be issued “this quarter”.
“Data centres underpin hundreds of thousands of jobs but this is sometimes ignored in political discourse,” he added.
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Legislation for private wires, which will also benefit large energy users, would be published early next year with a view to implementation in 2026, but he did not expect much opposition to it.
Mr O’Brien said that, under the revised National Development Plan (NDP), it will be possible to accelerate delivery of further renewable energy sources, with 15 to 20 projects in the pipeline before 2030.
While there were very significant challenges, “I’m not just blindly optimistic about that”, he added, citing high levels of renewable electricity already being accommodated on the grid and the scale-up of solar.
Under the NDP, up to €18 billion in grid investment over the next five years would show “the Government is serious about addressing issues”, he said as the conference examined how Ireland can strengthen its competitiveness while meeting its 2030 climate targets.
MHC energy partner Keith Newman said: “Data centres underpin Ireland’s digital economy, yet uncertainty is eroding investor confidence ... policy and regulatory clarity is needed to enable data centre development. [They] can also drive demand for renewable generation growth and grid infrastructure enhancements. That alignment is vital if Ireland is to remain competitive as a global hub.”
With the strong investment appetite and demand, data centres “should be viewed as the factories of the modern economy”, he added.
Karen Doyle, head of business development with Gas Networks Ireland (GNI), said Ireland’s grid continued to be under severe pressure and while the data centre model was very resilient, it needed power backup.
GNI could fulfil that role, she said, but there was a moratorium on gas connections, which she hoped would be addressed shortly.
A lot of tax income and jobs were dependent on this but it was clear that data centres “want wind, solar and biomethane” that could also help Ireland decarbonise.
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Tania Tsoneva, head of infrastructure research with CBRE Investment Management, said $120 billion (€102.5 billion) in data infrastructure investment looking for a home was not necessarily concentrated in the US but was increasingly going to Asia.
Dublin, London and Frankfurt had been the dominant locations for development in Europe but investment had declined in Dublin to a trickle while the other two locations were charging ahead.
In a survey of more than 250 delegates, three-quarters of respondents believed consumers would pay more for secure, domestic energy over cheaper imported fossil fuels, with 54 per cent saying consumers would accept a 10 per cent premium. Two-thirds supported energy security over competitiveness.
Three in five identified regulatory and policy uncertainty as the biggest barrier to data centre growth, ahead of planning or grid constraints.
“The findings confirm that consumers are willing to back renewables and the steps required to make Ireland energy independent,” said MHC energy sector lead partner Eoin Cassidy. “Ireland’s energy transition will only succeed if projects deliver reliable alternative power to fossil fuels in a way that supports the energy system and the Irish economy.”
