15:58, 19 September, 2019 15:58, 19 September, 2019
According to the latest industry update report from Host In Ireland in association with Bitpower, 34 new data centre facilities will likely be operational in the next six years – in addition to the 53 facilities which are currently active.
With eight new data centres under construction, and 26 with planning approval in place, the value of the projects is expected to deliver €4.5bn in inward investment to the Irish economy over a six-year period.
The report also highlighted the growing level of direct investment in renewable energy from the data sector with Amazon only recently announcing Cork as the location for a wind farm development, on top of an earlier investment in April this year in Donegal in Ireland.
“What is most encouraging is that this year we have seen several large scale investments in the renewable energy sector from leading data centre operators,” said Garry Connolly, President of Host In Ireland.
“We expect these non-subsidised investments to continue. We have not seen any detrimental effects on investment from our projections two years ago despite uncertainty around Brexit. In fact, from our original projections, they have risen by €1bn for 2021.”
The Q2 2019 report also found that annual investment in data centres has reached €1.3bn on an annual basis, cumulative investment in the data centre sector up to 2023 is ex €11bn, and Dublin South-West remains the largest cluster of data centres in Ireland with 14 active data centres.
The report also mentioned that the data centre industry has moved to a renewable first model globally, and Ireland is following suit.
“We welcomed the Irish Government’s commitment last quarter to achieve a 70% renewable energy target by 2030 but the government cannot drive that agenda alone,” said Host In Ireland in a written statement.
via Data Economy http://bit.ly/2Odtidv
