Skip to main content
Regional secretary with the National Education Union
Ireland embraced the AI boom. Now its data centres are consuming too much of its energy
Huge new buildings kitted out with powerful computers consumed 21 per cent of the nation’s electricity last year – leading to increased power demands and increased bills. MATT O’BRIEN reports
[Markus Spiske / Creative Commons]

DOZENS of massive data centres humming at the outskirts of Dublin are consuming more electricity than all of the urban homes in Ireland and starting to wear out the warm welcome that brought them here.

Now, a country that made itself a computing factory for Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok is wondering whether it was all worth it as tech giants look around the world to build even more data centres to fuel the next wave of artificial intelligence.

Fears of rolling blackouts led Ireland’s grid operator to halt new data centres near Dublin until 2028. These huge buildings and their powerful computers last year consumed 21 per cent of the nation’s electricity, according to official records. No other country has reported a higher burden to the International Energy Agency.

Dublin’s data centre limits

Moving to the boglands?

Could wind save Ireland’s data centres?

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A child rides a bike at Whitelee Windfarm in East Renfrewshi
Britain / 13 December 2024
13 December 2024
But Unite warns that Labour has ‘missed a golden opportunity to bring the national grid under public ownership’
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station which is to shut at the
Britain / 27 September 2024
27 September 2024
A reedbed at Chippenham Fen (Pic: Hugh Venables/Creative Com
Notes From A Free Walker / 10 August 2024
10 August 2024
From John Clare country to ancient fenland, Ed Miliband’s solar farm approvals risk industrialising precious rural spaces — we must find greener solutions that don’t sacrifice our countryside’s beauty, writes DAVE BANGS