Climate Change Advisory Council unequivocal in its assessment of lagging data centre regulation
Climate Change Advisory Council unequivocal in its assessment of lagging data centre regulation - The Labour Party
Commenting on the report published by the Climate Change Advisory Council Labour’s climate spokesperson Ciaran Ahern TD said Government must urgently get to grips with the excessive energy and water demands of data centres.
Deputy Ahern said:
“The publication of the CCAC’s report comes at a particularly timely moment, as Europe experiences another heatwave. While the Council acknowledges progress in some areas, it is unequivocal in highlighting the serious challenge posed by the Government’s failure to properly regulate data centres.
“As the Council has repeatedly recommended, new data centre connections should only be permitted where developers can guarantee that sufficient new electricity generation capacity, beyond the facility’s maximum demand, will be connected to the grid before the data centre becomes operational.
“The fact that new data centres are still not required to match their electricity demand with additional renewable energy generation is deeply concerning. Without that requirement, they risk placing greater pressure on an already stretched electricity system while undermining Ireland’s climate commitments.
“The Council also notes that progress in increasing renewable energy use for heating remains too slow. Ireland continues to fall short of both its national and EU 2030 renewable heat targets, leaving the State exposed to significant EU compliance costs.
“Achieving those targets becomes even more difficult when renewable electricity is diverted to meet the demands of an ever-expanding data centre sector.
“We know that data centres consume almost a quarter of Irish energy, and that in the middle of a hosepipe ban, data centres face no restrictions despite 57 data centres are using almost five million litres of water a day. That imbalance is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.
“The inertia from Government is intolerable. It’s time for a sensible approach where restrictions are placed on data centres to ensure they are generating sufficient renewable energy, and introducing a levy to recover some of the costs data centres are imposing on households and small businesses.”