A Meath TD has said that tech giant Amazon’s decision to scrap a plant planned for Dublin, along with hundreds of jobs, over a failure to secure power supply, has highlighted how Ireland “must plan ahead for several generations.”
The story, reported today in The Irish Times, has highlighted the extent of limitations on the State’s electricity network. The industrial plant was to be built in Ballycoolin in northwest Dublin, near the County Meath Border, where the company already has a substantial base. The Irish Times reports that the abandonment of plans was due to the failure to secure an electricity supply for the €300 million project.
Independent TD for Meath, Gillian Toole, told Gript: “If we, or Local Authorities, are intentionally pursuing data centres in Ireland, adequate infrastructure capacity must be invested in or present before planning permissions are granted.
“Amazon’s decision in Dublin 15 is regrettable from an employment and rates income perspective, but existing residents and businesses cannot have uncertain power & water supplies because of additional demands on an already fragile utilities infrastructure.
“Prior planning prevents poor performance” as the saying goes, and this unfortunate situation highlights the need to plan ahead for several generations in Ireland,” Deputy Toole added.
The AWS plan had been backed by Government support, with Fingal County Council planning permission for the 23,600sq m site having been secured as far back as 2022. It is understood that the project was perceived as a good way of positioning the State to take advantage of opportunities offered by AI technology. However, investment was stopped by Amazon when ESB Networks, the State’s electricity supplier, said there was “no scope to provide an electricity connection within the company’s timeframe because of constraints in power networks in that area.”
The Irish Times also reports that regulators have enforced limitations on new data centres – a large group of networked computer servers – in Ireland due to the electric shortage. However, the paper says that the failure to provide Amazon with the election needed “surprised” sources familiar with the plan, because prospective power demand from the planned plant, which was not a data centre, “was considered relatively modest.”
Similarly, Meath based Senator Sharon Keogan told Gript that planning was essential, stating:
“Ireland must realise it’s limitations and embrace small nuclear reactors if we are to future proof our economy. Wind and solar will not save us.”
In a statement, Amazon said: “AWS was disappointed that it did not prove possible to proceed with this project. If conditions allow, we do hope to be able to make other high-tech investments elsewhere in Ireland.”
Meanwhile, ESB Networks said it “can confirm that it was in discussions and progressing a feasibility assessment with the developer for works to connect a server recycling facility, not a data centre, to the distribution system – the initial connection was required in 2027”.