Proposal excuses new data centres from using renewable sources as back-up electricity

Meta's data centre in Clonee, Co Meath. Electricity demand from data centres rose from 5% of national demand in 2015 to 21% in 2023. File picture: Niall Carson/PA

New data centres will not be required to use renewable sources for their own back-up electricity generation under proposed new rules by the energy regulator.

Although data centres are deemed critical for contemporary infrastructure and Ireland’s economic growth, concerns have been raised about their increasing demand on Ireland’s electricity network and contribution to carbon emissions at a time when Ireland is battling to reach its climate targets.

Electricity demand from data centres rose from 5% of national demand in 2015 to 21% in 2023, accounting for 85% of overall electricity demand growth. And data centres will grow to 30% of electricity demand by 2030, according to currently agreed data centre contracts.

Under a proposed new policy published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), all new data centres connecting to the electricity network would have to continue to provide enough electricity generation and/or storage capacity to meet its own demand as a back-up — in line with current policy.

But, this energy generation or storage would no longer be required to be onsite, and could instead be located near the data centre.

The proposed new regulations would also require new data centres to feed in the energy it generates, or stores, into the general electricity market, supporting other homes and businesses and boosting overall supply at times.

Turbines on wind farms in Connacht. In 2023, renewables accounted for 40.7% of Ireland’s electricity supply. File picture: Eamonn Farrell/ © RollingNews.ie

Data centres would also be required to report their use of renewable energy and emissions annually, which would then be published. But they could choose to generate electricity with fossil fuels.

Ireland is battling to reduce carbon emissions and boost renewable energy generation with a legally binding target of emissions reductions of 51% by 2030 (compared to 2018 levels).

In 2023, renewables accounted for 40.7% of Ireland’s electricity supply. Targets have been set to increase the proportion of renewable electricity to up to 80% by 2030.

Under the new CRU proposed policy document, EirGrid and ESB Networks must also examine any existing constraints on the local electricity network when considering the location of a requested data centre connection.

Many data centres are concentrated around Dublin, creating additional pressure on the local electricity network which is already constrained and in need of major upgrades, the CRU noted.

EirGrid and ESB Networks must also “regularly publish” information and map capacity on the electricity network, under the proposed new policy.

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The CRU is inviting comments from interested parties by April 4 before a final decision on the new policy on data centre connections to the electricity grid is made.

Friends of the Earth Ireland strongly criticised the proposed policy for the absence of substantive measures on decarbonisation, and what they said was a lack of compatibility with climate law.

"Friends of the Earth believes that Data Centres present one of the most significant risks to reducing our emissions and halting the tide of extreme weather events like Storm Éowyn," a statement said. 

"This proposed policy [...] leaves the door open to privately operated Data Centres to ramp up their use of fossil fuels without capacity limitations." 

Rosi Leonard, Data Centre Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Ireland, said that without political leadership, "the power grab of private Big Tech companies over our energy systems will remain unchecked".

The proposed policy "contains a shocking absence of restrictions" that would minimise data centre risks, she said. 

There are no substantive restrictions on fossil gas use by the power-hungry industry, which is increasingly seeking energy connections to the gas grid as it maxes out the country’s electricity capacity. 

"The proposals, which continue to allow Data Centres to build onsite or local fossil gas generation, is a regressive move that will only lead to higher emissions."

Sean McLoughlin, Climate Policy Campaigner, said that Friends of the Earth Ireland "strongly reject" the CRU’s interpretation that it does not have the legal basis to mandate emission reductions. 

"This proposal’s climate-regressive interpretation of CRU’s legal duties has the potential to elevate the digitalisation drive far above our legally-binding limits on carbon pollution. The CRU can’t simply ‘pass the buck’ to other bodies to enforce climate law.”