Ireland now has 46 operational data centres. Image: Dario Lo Presti/Shutterstock
The future looks bright for investment in Irish data centre construction.
Ireland’s trajectory as a data centre hub looks set to continue, according to new research launched at the Second Data Symposium in Dublin City University yesterday (10 April).
Published by Host In Ireland in association with Bitpower, the Data Centre: Q1 2018 report found that more than €1.1bn will be invested in data centre construction on Irish shores this year, bringing the cumulative investment for data centres in the country to €5.7bn, with the potential to reach €9bn by 2021.
Major hub in Dublin
A large cluster of the 46 data centres currently operating in Ireland are based in south-west Dublin and, with a number of others around the country still being built, this will rise significantly in the very near future.
Ireland’s energy grid has seen a net increase of 60MW since the end of 2017 to account for the energy needs of data centres, both operational and planned. The quantity of data centre projects around Ireland that are still in the planning and construction stages means only 42.5pc of the power available is being used at present.
A great start to the year
Garry Connolly, president and founder of Host In Ireland, said: “Q1 2018 has seen the continued expansion of the Irish data hosting market, with new projects and expansions being announced in Dublin and Cork.
“We continue to see strong growth with the granting of planning and new planning applications for, in particular, the metro Dublin area. Whilst the start of the year has been very positive for the market and €1bn is anticipated to be spent in 2018, the medium/longer-term sustained growth of the industry will still depend on the availability of energy and energy options in the Dublin metro.”
The report launch coincided with the kick-off of the ‘Data Centres Ireland: Industry of Substance’ campaign by Host In Ireland. The campaign looks to highlight the benefits of data centres locating in Ireland, such as the favourably cool climate.
Apple’s plan for its Athenry data centre still languishes in limbo, but Amazon successfully secured permission in January from An Bord Pleanála to start building its 223,000 sq ft data centre in Mulhuddart, Dublin.
