Google's plans to establish a third data center in Dublin, the Irish capital, have encountered a setback. Today, the South Dublin County Council announced that it has rejected the proposed expansion plan from the tech giant due to the lack of renewable energy sources on-site to power the facility.
Dublin has faced an obstacle regarding Google's plans to build a third data center there. The South Dublin County Council stated that it rejected the proposed expansion plan from the tech giant because there are no renewable energy sources available on-site to operate the facility.
Google's European headquarters is located in the Irish capital alongside many other tech companies, employing around 5,000 people in the country. The company already has two data center facilities in Grange Castle Business Park, located southwest of the city center.
The company first announced its plans for a third data center, covering an area of 72,400 square meters next to the other two centers, in June of this year. A Google spokesperson at that time stated, "We have issued the official notice that we will submit a planning application to expand our existing data center in Ireland." They added, "This application reflects our ongoing commitment to meet the increasing demand for our services and support the digital economy in Ireland."
It was also reported that EirGrid, the state-owned electricity operator, issued an effective moratorium two years ago due to inadequate network capacity. However, Amazon received permission last September for three new centers to double its capacity in Dublin.
The South Dublin County Council justified its rejection of Google's application by stating that the tech giant did not provide sufficient details about the proposal's impact on energy supplies when operating the new data center. They also expressed concerns about "the current inadequate capacity in the electricity network and the significant lack of renewable energy on-site to operate the data center."
Rising Energy Costs for Data Centers:
Silicon Republic reported in July of this year that data centers consume about 21% of Ireland's electricity, up from just 5% in 2015. This percentage is expected to rise further, potentially accounting for one-third of total electricity consumption by 2026. As such, political leaders and environmental groups are questioning whether the push for more data centers aligns with the country's climate strategies.
Google has seen its greenhouse gas emissions increase by 48% over the past five years due to rising energy demands from artificial intelligence, while setting a goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030. The International Energy Agency estimates that energy use by data centers (which is critical for training and operating large AI models like those supporting ChatGPT and Google Gemini) could double from 2022 to 2026, reaching 1,000 terawatt-hours, compared to a total energy consumption of 438 terawatt-hours in France in 2023.
