Ireland has allowed itself to become a “data dumping ground” for big tech companies such as Amazon and Meta, which monopolize energy generation for their datacentres, campaigners claim.
They say the growth of the cloud storage sector in Ireland is so rapid that it threatens to meet the country’s decarbonisation obligations under the law.
Independent expert research commissioned by Friends of the Earth found that between 2017 and 2023 datacenters absorbed as much energy as that generated by wind power over time.
“Datacentres are growing far faster than renewable energy is being used to meet their needs,” said report author Anna Daly, professor of energy and sustainable energy systems at University College Cork.
It found that electricity demand from datacenters has grown by 22.6% since 2015, compared with 0.4% for other industrial sectors.
By 2030 the demand for energy from datacenters to serve will increase the needs of the internet and artificial intelligence the report said it would “exceed the report of the entire industrial industry under the highest mission”.
Government data published by the Central Statistics Office in July found that total energy use by datacenters rose from 5% in 2015 to 21% of national consumption in 2013.
Friends of the Earth is now calling on the Irish government to reconsider its decision on data center expansion.
“This research completely blows the PR yarn out of the water that the expansion of datacentres is somehow sensible or sustainable in both the climate and the security industry,” said Jerry Mac Evilly, head of change strategy at the charity. “They add more fuel to the fire and increase reliance on fossil gas and the gas network.”
He added that investment in renewable energy such as wind and solar power by the state “is intended to pollute our communities with precious fossil fuels, not to serve myopically in the unlimited expansion of one colossal industry.”
Daly’s report also found that “dozens of databases” are looking for connections to the natural gas network, which relies on load supplies from the UK and Norway, to “overcome local power network constraints”.
“It prolongs Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels and will make legally binding carbon policies untenable,” Daly said.
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Data center expansion in Ireland will come even more under the spotlight with the new EU AI Act, which requires countries to publish figures on the industry’s intended use of common AI.
The EU is also finalizing rules to monitor data center energy performance, including their energy and water footprint.
In August, South Dublin County Council refused planning permission Google Ireland for a new datacentre in a business park. He cited “insufficient existing capacity in the electricity network (euis) and the lack of significant renewable energy on-site to power the data center” as reasons for the decision.
On Sunday, the chief executive of Ireland’s electricity grid, Eirgrid, said the comments about the data centers were “inaccurate, distorted and damaging to the public interest”. He told Business Post that the level of demand was “healthy” for a growing economy and would help economic winds.
The projected 30% increase in power demand should not be a concern, he said, if the government had achieved Eirgrid’s growth in energy generation by 2030.