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Europe’s first data centre powered by a privately operated microgrid began operations in Ireland on Wednesday. Unlike conventional facilities, the new data centre, located in West Dublin, is not connected to Ireland’s national electricity grid. Instead, it runs on an on-site power system developed by power solutions company AVK for Pure Data Centres Group, which operates the facility.
The development comes as data centres consume increasing amounts of electricity, placing pressure on power grids in major economies. In the United States, PresidentDonald Trump recently asked large technology companies to generate power in-house instead of relying entirely on public grids.
The new Dublin facility is being seen as an example of how future data centres may operate partly or fully independent of national electricity networks.
The microgrid currently runs on natural gas but has been designed to switch to alternative fuels such as biomethane and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in the future. The project represents an investment of about $1.2 billion.
“This microgrid is unique and is the first in Europe,” Pure Data Centre's Executive Chairman and interim CEO Gary Wojtaszek told RTE News.
“It's a self-generated data centre that relies on its own power generation and fuel,” he said. The ‘master plan’ was to deliver 110 megawatts of data centre capacity, he said, adding, “that's enough energy to basically power 100,000 homes.”
Microgrid-powered data centres are already present in the United States, but such systems have not previously been deployed in Europe.
"This project demonstrates how carefully designed onsite energy infrastructure can complement national energy planning frameworks," said AVK CEO Ben Pritchard.
Ireland has come up as a major hub for data centres in Europe, but the rapid growth of the sector has also raised concerns about its energy impact.
Data centres accounted for around 22% of the country’s electricity consumption in 2024, compared with only 5% in 2015. Projections suggest the figure could rise to nearly one-third of Ireland’s total electricity demand by 2030.
"As these data centres get bigger and we see AI workloads and the data becoming more of a feature in our day-to-day lives, that only puts more stress on the grid. So we have to drive to a different solution," Pritchard told CNBC.
The European Commission estimates that the European Union will require at least €1.2 trillion in investments by 2040 to build the digital and AI infrastructure needed across the region.
The development comes as data centres consume increasing amounts of electricity, placing pressure on power grids in major economies. In the United States, PresidentDonald Trump recently asked large technology companies to generate power in-house instead of relying entirely on public grids.
The new Dublin facility is being seen as an example of how future data centres may operate partly or fully independent of national electricity networks.
The microgrid currently runs on natural gas but has been designed to switch to alternative fuels such as biomethane and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in the future. The project represents an investment of about $1.2 billion.
“This microgrid is unique and is the first in Europe,” Pure Data Centre's Executive Chairman and interim CEO Gary Wojtaszek told RTE News.
“It's a self-generated data centre that relies on its own power generation and fuel,” he said. The ‘master plan’ was to deliver 110 megawatts of data centre capacity, he said, adding, “that's enough energy to basically power 100,000 homes.”
Microgrid-powered data centres are already present in the United States, but such systems have not previously been deployed in Europe.
"This project demonstrates how carefully designed onsite energy infrastructure can complement national energy planning frameworks," said AVK CEO Ben Pritchard.
Ireland has come up as a major hub for data centres in Europe, but the rapid growth of the sector has also raised concerns about its energy impact.
Data centres accounted for around 22% of the country’s electricity consumption in 2024, compared with only 5% in 2015. Projections suggest the figure could rise to nearly one-third of Ireland’s total electricity demand by 2030.
"As these data centres get bigger and we see AI workloads and the data becoming more of a feature in our day-to-day lives, that only puts more stress on the grid. So we have to drive to a different solution," Pritchard told CNBC.
The European Commission estimates that the European Union will require at least €1.2 trillion in investments by 2040 to build the digital and AI infrastructure needed across the region.
