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🇮🇪 Ireland /Energy & Infrastructure

Data centres offered cheaper gas in exchange for accepting supply cuts

From Irish Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Ireland’s energy regulator has proposed discounted gas for new data centres that accept planned interruptions during periods of exceptionally high national demand.
  • The regulator says 17 planned data centres could require as much gas as six large gas-fired power generators or 2.6 million homes.
  • Critics say the proposal highlights the strain data centres place on the energy system and could increase fossil-fuel use, particularly if operators rely on diesel during interruptions.

Ireland’s energy regulator wants to offer data centres cheaper gas, but only if they accept that their supply could be deliberately interrupted when national demand peaks.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities says the arrangement is needed because continued data-centre expansion could make it difficult to secure enough gas during extreme cold. Its analysis found that 17 planned data centres would have gas demand equivalent to six large gas-fired electricity generators, or 2.6 million homes.

Under the proposed “interruptible gas connections” policy, new data centres could receive a discount in return for accepting planned disruptions. They might have to temporarily shut down, delay energy-intensive operations or switch to another fuel. The CRU says that alternative would probably be diesel, while the size of the proposed discount has not yet been specified.

Rather than nip the problem in the bud by imposing a moratorium on data centres connecting to the gas grid, the CRU wants to roll out the red carpet for them.

· Lynn BoylanThe Sinn Féin MEP criticised the proposed discounted-gas arrangement.

The regulator expects normal winter demand to be covered, but warns that a severe cold spell could produce a gas shortfall of 9 to 18 percent. The estimate assumes the sector expands over the next six or seven years to include the 17 applicants seeking connections to the gas grid, with no additional entry capacity built.

Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan called the scale of the demand “off the charts” and said the proposal used workarounds instead of stopping further expansion. She argued that the Government’s support for data centres could be used to build support for an expensive liquefied natural gas terminal. A previous moratorium on new data-centre electricity connections was lifted on condition that operators provide their own power. Most of that power is eventually expected to come from renewable sources, but their interim generators will run on gas.

For context, the slightly smaller 445-megawatt Whitegate CCGT generator in Cork provides power for 445,000 homes.

· Lynn BoylanShe compared the projected gas demand of new data centres with an existing Irish power station.
About this summary

Originally published by Irish Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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