Data centre issues plague not just Ireland, but several nations, including the United States, due to them causing strain on the power grid. This strain is forecasted to worsen as the energy consumed by data centres is anticipated to rise with the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which uses ten times the energy of existing search engines. This rapid growth, combined with a significant spike in planned data centre construction in the US, poses a substantial concern for Ireland.
Tech companies are seeking solutions to the increased electricity consumption of data centres. Google has led by commissioning seven modular nuclear reactors to power its future data centres in North America. Similarly, Microsoft announced in September its plans to co-finance the resumption of operations at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania to cater to its escalating energy demands.
However, nuclear power, if proven viable and preferable for power-hungry data centres, won’t be an alternative for Ireland as it would require lifting the ban on nuclear energy usage – a move unlikely to gain political consent.
Public sentiment against data centres in Ireland has been growing, the energy infrastructure’s sorry state highlighted, thus casting it as a choice between power hungry data centres and residential electricity.
Ireland, albeit, is rich in alternative energy resources, notably wind energy. However, substantial planning, investment, and upgrades to existing energy infrastructure are needed to tap into this.
Fortunately, the Government has sufficient financial resources to tackle this issue. The budget, despite some imprudent short-term measures, has insightful provisions for future investments that should be prioritised by future administrations. The boom time in public finances must not be wasted.