Why Dublin said no to Google's data centre plan

Dublin rejects Google's plan for a third data centre

Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland, has rejected Google’s offer of setting up its third data centre in the city, as per a report by The Next Web. The South Dublin County Council said no to Google’s application on the grounds of insufficient details given by the tech giant on how the third data centre will affect the country’s power supply once it gets operational in 2027.

The South Dublin County Council reportedly also added that the electricity network (grid) was insufficient to meet the power demands of the proposed data centre and there was a “lack of significant on-site renewable energy” sources to power the data centre.

In June 2024, Google announced its plans for a third data centre in Dublin, that would be built close to the other two. Google’s third data centre in Dublin was proposed to be constructed on 72,400 square metres of land.

Data centres of Big Tech companies like Google and Amazon are hogging up a big percentage of electricity in Ireland. As per an earlier report by Silicon Republic in July, data centres gobble up 21% of electricity in Ireland. Their energy consumption is only set to increase and by 2026, it is expected that they will consume one-third of Ireland’s total electricity. The alarming fact has raised concerns among pro-environment groups and the governing bodies of Ireland.

In Europe, Google is headquartered in Dublin and 5,000 people in the Republic of Ireland reportedly work for the tech giant. The two data centres Google already has in Dublin are located in the Grange Castle business park in the Irish capital.

After its data centre plan was rejected, Google has one month to appeal against the decision.