Amazon will develop data centers at a renewable energy business park in County Offaly, Ireland.
“Bord na Móna and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced a strategic collaboration, focused on sustainable energy innovation,” Bord na Móna announced on LinkedIn this week. “The collaboration exemplifies a shared vision for a sustainable future, showing what is possible to achieve.”
AWS will become the first business to develop at the Bord na Móna Eco Energy Park in County Offaly, where it will leverage the energy produced by Bord na Móna's renewable developments through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
The number, specifications, or development timelines of Amazon’s planned data centers were not shared.
Offaly, a county in the Irish Midlands, is some 100km west of Dublin. The vast majority of Ireland's data center market is currently centered around the Irish capital.
“We are delighted to be working with Amazon Web Services at our first Bord na Móna Eco Energy Park. We are investing significantly in our Eco Energy Park offering in the Midlands, which will provide associated benefits for the area that will positively impact employment, the environment, infrastructure, communities, and local businesses,” said Tom Donnellan, chief executive of Bord na Móna.
He continued: “We can co-locate these large companies with our renewable energy assets to offer a sustainable pathway to grid capacity that is backed up with Flexible Technology power as required. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to welcoming Amazon Web Services and other leading organizations from sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and ICT among others to join the Bord na Móna Eco Energy Park in the coming years.”
As part of the announcement, AWS has signed a 105MW PPA with Bord na Móna to offtake from the Derrinlough Wind Farm, also located in County Offaly. The company has also pledged to invest in up to 800MW of new renewable projects in Ireland.
Lindsay McQuade, director of energy, EMEA, Amazon Web Services, said: “This collaboration with Bord na Móna will help us to continue to decarbonize our operations whilst creating economic opportunities and supporting Ireland’s climate goals. We look forward to working closely with Bord na Móna to seek out opportunities to expand in the Midlands.”
Bord na Móna (which translates to the Peat Board) is a semi-state company in Ireland, founded in 1946 to develop the peatlands of Ireland and provide economic benefit for Irish Midland communities. The organization owns around 80,000 hectares and has developed nearly a dozen wind or solar farms across Ireland.
Launched in 2021, its Eco Energy Park offering aims to develop approximately 3,000 hectares across Bord na Móna’s landbank in Offaly, Westmeath, and Meath over the coming years, aiming to generate sufficient renewable energy to power important sectors such as manufacturing, pharmaceutical, agrifood, ICT, transport, hydrogen, and logistics.
According to its website, the Eco Energy Park will be the location of more than 200 MW of low to zero-carbon electricity generation from sources including wind, solar, and gas, as well as energy storage facilities which may include battery and hydrogen.
First announced in 2019, work began on the Derrinlough farm in mid-2022 and will consist of 21 turbines generating 105MW. It is located on two bogs within the Boora Bog Group in West Offaly; Clongawny and Drinagh bogs.
Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD said: “The strategic collaboration announced between Bord na Móna and Amazon Web Services serves as an example for how energy providers and large energy users can work together to greatly reduce carbon emissions. Projects like Bord na Móna’s Eco Energy Park will be crucial in making these sectors of our economy sustainable in the long term, by co-locating renewable energy generation assets with large energy users”
Amazon operates several campuses around Dublin in the Clonshaugh Business and Technology Park, in Fingal County’s Blanchardstown, and one further south in Tallaght.
The company has reportedly paused some projects in Dublin due to an ongoing moratorium on new grid connections and at others it is looking to rely on other power sources.
