Ireland‘s Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has published a draft policy that requires data centres to disclose their carbon emissions, as well as the level to which they use renewable energy.
The draft policy was developed following consultation with industry stakeholders and government departments, and seeks to provide greater transparency around the energy usage by data centres in Ireland.
‘Core infrastructure enabler’
‘Data centres are a core infrastructure enabler of a technology-rich, innovative economy, which makes Ireland a location of choice for a broad range of sectors and value-added activities,’ the CRU said, noting that demand from data centres has grown from 5% of national electricity demand in 2015 to 21% in 2023.
‘The aim of the proposed decision is to provide a pathway for LEU connections to the electricity system, having regard to the capacity of the system in relation to supply of energy and grid infrastructure.’
Under the terms of the policy, new data centres seeking to connect to Ireland’s electricity network will be required to provide generation and/or storage capacity to match their demand, which can either be located on-site or close to the data centre.
The generation and/or storage facility will also be required to participate in the electricity market, supporting overall system adequacy.
Read more: Ireland needs to ‘shift from planning to implementation’ on climate strategy: OECD
Emissions reporting
As per the policy, data centres will be required to report their use of renewable energy and emissions to system operators on an annual basis, which will be published in a summary format.
In terms of location, the siting of new data centre connections will be assessed based on grid constraints, with system operators EirGrid and ESB Networks publishing regular updates on capacity availability.
High consumption rate
“Ireland is a European leader in data centres and has the highest share of national electricity used by data centres in the European Union,” noted Fergus Devine, Máire O’Neill and Liam McCabe of William Fry, in an op-ed on the CRU’s policy plans. ” This consumption rate is even higher in certain areas, with the CRU estimating that 48% of metered electricity consumption in the Dublin/Meath region was attributable to data centre load in 2023.
“For context, in 2022, data centres represented 5.2% of national electricity demand in the Netherlands and 3% in Germany. A good comparator for Ireland’s role in European data centres is the role played by Virginia in the United States market, where 25.6% of total state electricity consumption in 2023 was attributable to data centres.”
Corporate interests
Elsewhere, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Environment, Climate, and Energy, Pa Daly TD, criticised the CRU’s draft guidelines, suggesting that they prioritise corporate interests over sustainability and energy affordability.
“The CRU’s new draft rules for data centres give the green light for data centre expansion but fail to mandate for renewable energy solutions,” Daly commented. “This has the potential to have disastrous consequences not only for the public purse and the environment.
“Failing to meet our climate targets could cost the exchequer up to €8 billion in fines. While data centres are an important facet of modern digital life, their energy demand has sky-rocketed over the last 10 years, placing extraordinary pressure on Ireland’s creaking electricity grid.”
The CRU is inviting comments from interested parties by 4 April, before finalising its decision on the new policy. Read more here.
