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An industry update report released by Host in Ireland claims that the construction of data centres will generate billions in inward investment.
The latest industry report from Host in Ireland, in conjunction with Bitpower, paints an optimistic portrait of Ireland’s growing data centre industry.
According to the Q2 analysis, Ireland will gain €4.5bn worth of inward investment from the construction of data centres by 2025. It noted that €1bn worth of centres are currently under construction, while an additional €3.5bn will come from centres with planning permission that are expected to be completed in the next few years.
Annual investment in data centres has reached €1.3bn and cumulative investment in the data centre sector up to 2023 is in excess of €11bn.
There are 53 operational data centres in Ireland, which have capacity of 622MW. With eight more under construction and 26 with planning approval, the data centres in the pipeline would more than double Ireland’s capacity by 2025.
The largest concentration of data centres in the country continues to be in south-west Dublin, which is home to 14 active data centres.
Continued investment
Data centre sector growth has positively impacted Ireland’s construction exports, according to the report, growing to €2bn in recent years. “Our expertise in data centre construction is playing a positive part in that growth,” the report notes.
The value of ICT exports, meanwhile, has grown to almost €70bn, according to CSO estimates from 2017.
Additionally, a 2018 report co-produced by Grant Thornton and the IDA found that data centres have contributed €7.13bn to Ireland’s economy since 2010 and that of the 1,000 suppliers contracted with data centres operating in Ireland, some 90pc of the expenditure has benefited indigenous firms.
“What is most encouraging is that this year we have seen several large scale investments in the renewable energy sector from leading data centre operators,” said Gary Connolly, president of Host in Ireland, at the launch of the report. “We expect these non-subsidised investments to continue.
“We have not seen any detrimental effects on investment from our projections two years ago despite uncertainty around Brexit. In fact, from our original projections they have risen by €1bn for 2021.”
