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Technology companies will have to “work within the climate limits”, Ireland’s environment minister has warned, as the popular hub for data centres grapples with the surge of energy-intensive systems.
Eamon Ryan, minister for the environment, climate and communications, said he had met “all the big [tech] companies] recently” as pressure grows on national energy systems to cope with the immense strain placed by the computer power needed to run generative artificial intelligence.
Global electricity demand from data centres is expected to at least double by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency, leading to concerns the world will struggle to bring down its greenhouse gas emissions from energy.
Ireland is the location of more than 80 data centres, mainly around Dublin, drawn there partly because of its fibre cable access to the US and Europe, as well as cool climate and clean water.
But the country was forced to introduce an effective ban on new construction in the greater Dublin area in 2021 because of energy constraints.
More than a fifth of its electricity in 2023 was used by data centres — or more than all the electricity used by homes in its towns and cities combined.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ryan said Ireland wanted to “facilitate data centres and make sure that we can do so in a way that works for the companies.
“But also it has to work within the climate limits which we’ve committed to and it has to work within the grid, which is able to provide secure power supply.”
He added: “It’s a challenge in engineering terms. It’s challenging economically, but I don’t think any sector can opt out from the climate challenge that we all face.”
Amazon Web Services, which has significant facilities in Ireland, said last week it would spend £8bn over five years in the UK on data centres and has announced further projects in Europe, though outside of Ireland.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, the Irish regulator, is due to publish a report setting out the country’s future policy for large energy interconnection in October.
Ryan, who stepped down as leader of the Green party earlier this year and said he will not run in Ireland’s next election, said he hoped the policy would play a role in setting the standards internationally to take into account climate limits.
He said that data centre owners should invest in their own renewable energy and battery storage facilities, as well as focusing on “flexibility and capability around demand management” for how the power is used.
Last week, Ryan met his UK counterpart Ed Miliband and discussed building more interconnectors to link the electricity grids between the two islands to help the renewable energy drive. He said the Greenlink cable, the third interconnector between Britain and Ireland, was expected to be ready next month.
Ryan argued that energy was one of the critical areas where Britain and Ireland could “reset” their relationship after years of tension over Brexit.
“There is an opportunity now with a change of government for us to co-operate,” he said, referring to Labour winning the UK election this summer.
Earlier this year, Ireland, the UK and Belgium signed a letter of agreement to develop Europe’s first hybrid electricity interconnector between three countries.
By 2030, Ireland aims to have enough renewable energy to be able to export the surplus. “The island uses about 5GW in the middle of the day,” he said. “We will have 13 terawatt hours of surplus renewable power. We are looking for customers for that.”
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