LIMERICK People Before Profit spokesperson, Cian Prendiville, has called on Green Party TD Brian Leddin to support the upcoming People Before Profit Planning and Development (Climate Emergency Measures) (Amendment) Bill 2021, which would ban the construction of more data centres in Ireland whilst we are in a climate emergency.
The bill is due to be debated this Thursday and voted on by TDs next week. Today the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment and Climate Change has heard how unless action is taken Data Centres could account for a majority of electricity usage in Ireland in coming decades.
Táinaiste Leo Varadkar wrote in the current issue of Wind Energy Ireland Magazine:
“Under the first Climate Action Plan in 2019, we committed to 70% of our electricity being created from renewable resources by 2030. As well as contributing to the decarbonisation of the electricity sector, this increased generation of renewable energy will facilitate the wider decarbonisation of our economy, as we electrify transport and industry. Ireland is going to see a huge increase in demand for electricity in the coming years. Electric cars, electric heating systems and big industries shifting away from oil and gas are going to require a huge amount of extra electricity supply as we ramp up climate action. “
Cian Prendiville has said today that any additional data centre development in this country would be contrary to this decarbonisation target because the amount of renewable energy capacity that the data centres would demand cannot be met by the amount of renewable energy Ireland can supply. This will lead to the data centres relying on Liquefied Natural Gas imports and coal power generation.
“The addition of data centres, particularly the planned data centres in Ennis and Limerick, would throw this decarbonisation goal out the window. The existing 70 data centres in this country consume 11% of entire electricity output with another 38 due to come online in the future. The latest EirGrid report predicts that by 2030, data centres will consume up to 33% of all Ireland’s energy demand. Other experts have pointed out this figure could rise to a majority of all energy use.. This additional burden on the energy system is completely unsustainable and would also present massive problems for us in terms of blackouts for ordinary people and businesses.
“A U.S. trade group on Friday urged the U.S. Department of Energy to order Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) producers to reduce LNG exports to avoid LNG price increases and supply shortages in the U.S. this winter. This is occurring against a backdrop of increased international demand for LNG, such as that from the proposed new data centre in Limerick. If the data centre in Limerick cannot import enough LNG to satisfy its electricity demands, this could result in further electricity price increases and blackouts here in Ireland.
“We do not want a situation where Irish people are struggling to afford to heat their homes and power blackouts are commonplace this winter while data centres across the country are able to keep their lights on
“I call on the Green Party to back this bill so that our national policy around data centres can be rational and sustainable. Anything other than full support for this bill from the Greens would represent a betrayal of the climate movement and an abandonment of Ireland’s climate targets and obligations.”
