Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 September 2021
119. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will consider a review of Government policy on the development of data centres in Ireland until a cost-benefit analysis has been carried out in relation to energy security, energy prices and their potential to impact on Ireland’s ability to meet climate targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43753/21]
View answer127. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if there are plans to update the Government statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland’s Enterprise Strategy report taking into account increased growth in the sector since the policy was devised in 2017, new climate action legislation that has been enacted since and other relevant Government policies that have been drafted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43754/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 127 together.
As the Deputy has alluded to, there have been significant policy and market developments with implications for the data centre sector in Ireland since the publication of the 'Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland's Enterprise Strategy' in summer 2018. Data centres are already a significant feature of Ireland’s technology sector and our electricity demand (representing 11% of demand in 2020); they are also a core infrastructure enabler of a technology-rich, innovative economy, which makes Ireland a location of choice for a broad range of sectors and value-added activities.
The Government is currently preparing a new Climate Action Plan that will address, amongst many objectives, our ambition to further decarbonise our electricity system. We will seek to further decarbonise our electricity grid while we simultaneously pursue the electrification of sectors such as transport and heating and, crucially, preserve our security of supply and the reliability of our grid. Arising from the Climate Action Plan, I expect that the ‘Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Enterprise Strategy’ will need to be revised to reflect new policy and regulatory developments, ongoing challenges and potential opportunities facing the sector.
This would be part of a suite of actions to ensure that Ireland is planning appropriately for new energy demand in the context of our electrification and decarbonisation ambitions, facilitating growth in digitalisation and our technology sector, while ensuring that we are cultivating energy markets and infrastructure that deliver smart and competitively priced services to all electricity customers. Promoting a higher level of Corporate Power Purchase Agreements in the Irish market, assessing opportunities for large energy users to provide flexible levels of demand at peak times, and facilitating businesses to better monitor and manage the carbon intensity of their electricity hour by hour and across different locations on the grid, could all potentially contribute to this objective.
In revising the Government Statement, my Department would work closely with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and stakeholders such as Eirgrid, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and IDA Ireland, to set out the additional measures required to ensure that the existing demand for data centre development can be harnessed to drive the decarbonisation of our electricity system and deliver regional economic opportunities. I expect that appropriate grid connection policy and electricity market design, alongside research, development and innovation in the sector, can facilitate increasingly efficient, flexible and future-proofed infrastructure for Ireland’s digital, knowledge-based economy.
