Ireland's Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister), Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin has spoken out in favor of a 200MW data center development in County Clare.
Proposed by Art Data Centres, the data center development is expected to see €1.2 billion ($1.3bn) in investment for six data halls covering 145 acres.
The project is anticipated to create 400-450 permanent jobs when complete, and 1,200 jobs during construction which is slated to begin sometime this year.
First reported by the Clare Echo, during the Ennis Chamber President’s Lunch, Tanáiste Micheál Martin said: " I would support that data center and its connection to the grid. We have a lot of data centers in Ireland but we are living in a digital economy and that is the future, AI is coming and the demand for data will grow exponentially so we have to facilitate all of that.
"It positions Ireland well for the long-term, we have to expand the grid but this represents an opportunity for here and for this location, that is why for areas outside of Dublin which haven’t had that sort of investment in the past we can’t deny them that investment, I understand the grid capacity is there.”
The Ennis data center project was given the green light by An Bord Pleanala in April 2024. Of the seven councilors in the Ennis Municipal District, five are reported to be in favor of the development, one is undecided, and one is against.
While it received the go-ahead, shortly after opponents including the Clare Green Party said they would seek a judicial review to try and block the development.
First proposed in 2019, the development has been mired in controversy, with environmentalists describing it as a “climate disaster waiting to happen.” Planning permission was initially granted in 2022, but eight appeals were lodged against the decision. One of the appellants, Ireland’s national trust An Taisce, said in its filing that the development would generate 657,000 tonnes of CO2 each year due to its high power requirements.
Opposition to the project remains ongoing. Environmental groups told the Clare Echo that they were angry with the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) 2023 electricity consumption data. Released earlier this month, the CSO found that data centers consumed 20 percent more electricity than the year prior. This is a continuing increase, with data showing that 31 percent more power was consumed by data centers in 2022 than in 2021.
Power constraints have limited data center development in Ireland. The country has had a de facto moratorium on data center developments in the greater Dublin area with power operator EirGrid saying it would not accept any applications until 2028. According to Councilor Clare Colleran-Molloy, Ennis, which lies on the opposite coast of Ireland, is currently only using 10 percent of the capacity at the Ennis substation.
Companies have been seeking alternative options within the Dublin area – including connections to the country’s gas network and running data centers off on-site gas power plants.
