Echelon Data Centres has secured a grid connection for its planned €3.5 billion ($3.89bn) data center campus in County Wicklow, Ireland.
The 45,000 sqm (484,000 sq ft) DUB20 campus will eventually provide 200MW of IT capacity, with 90MW being made available as part of phase one of the development.
First announced in 2019, the data center will be built on a 100-acre site south of Irish capital Dublin. Echelon said it can now move forward with the project after being granted a grid connection by Ireland’s grid operator, EirGrid.
Cormac Nevin, Echelon head of energy systems, said: “DUB20 is a model for the future – and EirGrid’s decision to provide a grid connection for the facility will ensure investment of €3.5bn in data center and energy infrastructure in County Wicklow.
“It is an endorsement of sustainable data center development as it follows a pathway to net zero emissions and demonstrates the role of Government policy in achieving that. It is also a strong statement that Ireland takes its climate responsibilities seriously but is open for business to the data center sector and the jobs and inward investment that comes with it.”
The data center campus will include a biogas power plant and be connected to a nearby wind farm. Echelon said EirGrid’s decision will allow it to begin work on a 220kV substation at the site, giving it access to power from the wind farm. The company said it is also investing in solar, battery energy storage systems, and renewable fuels to replace fossil fuel consumed by the data center.
Phase one of the data center was due to go live in 2021, but Echelon has been at loggerheads with EirGrid over obtaining the grid connection, amid ongoing power constraints in Ireland and a defacto moratorium on new data centers in the Dublin area.
In January, DCD reported on Echelon’s growing frustration about the amount of time it was taking to secure a grid connection for the site, which the company says will support 1,100 construction jobs and 200 permanent data center-related roles.
Echelon is backed by Starwood Capital, which invested $850 million in the company earlier this year.
Founded in 2016 and launched in 2019, Echelon Data Centres now has six sites across Ireland and the UK with a total potential capacity of up to 500MW.
Its sites in Ireland – DUB10 and DUB40 in Dublin’s Clondalkin and Grange Castle, along well DUB20 and another County Wicklow site, DUB30 – will have a combined capacity of around 400MW.
In the UK, it is developing the LCY10 site in London’s Docklands. A second campus is planned in Chesham, Buckinghamshire.
