Microsoft is to build its own power station as part of a new €900m data centre in Dublin, it has been reported.
The gas-fired generator plan is because of worries about future constraints on the national energy grid.
The tech giant's plans include building a 170-megawatt (MW) on-site power plant plus 21 diesel-powered generators to offset the high energy demand from the facilities, it is understood.
The plans come amid concerns over the high energy demand of data centres.
Data centres' power use rose by 32% between 2020 and 2021, and the increase between January-March 2015 and October-December 2021 was a massive 265%, according to the Central Statistics Office.
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Microsoft recently applied for a special industrial emissions licence from the Environmental Protection Agency to operate the 21 emergency gas-powered generators and a 25 metre high gas-fired compound on the site of its data centre campus at Grange Castle Business Park in south Dublin, the Business Post reported yesterday.
The US software giant is seeking permission to build a standby 170MW gasfired power plant because its new data centres are "located in what is noted as a constrained area in terms of electrical grid capacity".
The data centre facility would consist of two buildings called Dub 14 and Dub 15, which were granted planning permission in May last year, and which will have a total footprint of close to 145,000 square feet each.
The company will spend €875m building the two data centres and the standby gas power-plant.
There are around 70 data centres nationwide, which had a greater share of energy consumption than all rural homes last year.
EirGrid predicts that 28% of all electricity demand nationwide is expected to come from large energy users such as data centres by 2031.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) last year placed a moratorium of sorts on the building of new data centres.
Last month, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said the high energy use of data centres in Ireland is "a short-term problem" because when offshore wind is developed at scale, this pressure will be alleviated.
He added that, in the future, these companies will be asked to situate data centres in parts of the country where there is availability of offshore wind power.
Asked if the Government is prioritising enterprise over emissions, Mr Ryan said: "No. When this Government came to office, we actually stopped the open-door policy to [data centres] because we realised there was a problem.
"It's a short-term problem. By the end of this decade, when we develop offshore wind at scale - which we will - then we will provide a mechanism where we can retain the jobs, retain those companies here and more important than that be a low-carbon location where they want to come.
"There aren't any new [data centres] being allowed at the moment. We can't offer any new data centres until we get agreement on how [the companies plan to] provide backup renewable power that will complement the grid, and strengthen our grid, and that you locate the data centres in places where we can actually support them. In Dublin that is now limited," he added.
Ireland is recognised globally as a good location for data storage because the weather is temperate and does not vary wildly between winter and summer.
