Clare’s Green Party representative insists future data centres should only be granted a licence if they provide some benefit to the community.
The government will publish its policy document on data centres in the coming weeks, with Taoiseach Mícheal Martin ruling out a moratorium on future developments.
The Taoiseach’s insisted that data centres shouldn’t be seen as ‘boogeymen’ in discussions about climate action and energy use.
It’s after Eirgrid projected that the facilities will account for 33 per cent of all electricity consumption by 2030 – they currently account for around 14 per cent.
No new licences have been granted in the past two years and new rules will dictate that centres will have to prove they can produce their own energy if necessary.
Each data centre uses 500 thousand litres of water every day, which can rise to 7 million litres during a heatwave.
Edel Mee, who’s Managing Director of IT Security People in Clarecastle says society needs to balance its data demands and environmental objectives.
Between 2015 and 2021 energy used by data centres trebled in Ireland.
CSO figures show electricity consumption by data centres increased by 32% in 2021, compared to the previous year.
Ballyvaughan-based member of environmental group Futureproof Clare, Ruairí Ó Fathaigh, believes some form of public ownership over the facilities needs to be examined.
Ireland currently houses 25 per cent of all the data centres in the European Union.
Inagh Green Party Senator Róisín Garvey wants to see the heat generated from these data centres used to heat homes.
A Government policy document is set to be published in the autumn.
