Data Centre Investment in Ireland to total $11.2bn within three years
Data centre investment in Ireland is set to reach over €10bn ($11.2bn) by 2022, according to the just -published Q1 report from Host In Ireland. The infrastructure being deployed is already underpinning over 100,000 jobs in the ICT sector for the Irish economy, says the report.
Host in Ireland is an industry-led initiative specifically developed to generate awareness and recognition of Ireland’s growing role in the location to host digital assets.
Inward investment in the country from data centres has tripled over the past four years, bringing the growing average annual spend to €1.3bn each year, says the report.
Garry Connolly, CEO of Host In Ireland, said: “The enormity of this investment has been transformational for Ireland over the past ten years. The ICT sector in Ireland now supports more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.
“Our ability to provide the data infrastructure required by some of the largest companies in the world has meant that computer service related exports now top €69.3bn, making it the largest export sector in the economy beating pharmaceuticals and the agrifood sector.”
Figures from construction consultants Mitchell McDermott reveal over half of the spend in data centre construction over the past 12 months was spent on equipment used to provide power and cooling, with one fifth spent on creating the building shell and architectural services for new facilities.
Anthony McDermott, director of Mitchell McDermott, said: “We find that typically 55% of spend in the sector is on equipment including generators and other large items such as air conditioning units.”
He said a further 20% is spent on civil, structural and architectural services, 15% is spent on mechanical, electrical and plumbing services and 10% on preliminary construction costs.
There are now 53 active data centres in Ireland with 29 currently in development. The report says 16 new data halls came online in 2018. In the reported period, Facebook opened its facility in Clonee and announced further investment. Google announced plans for expansion in Dublin and Microsoft ramped up construction in Grange Castle.
Amazon Web Services built new facilities in Clonshaugh and Tallaght and received planning approval for additional sites.
On the wholesale side, CyrusOne announced a new campus in Grange Castle. Crag Digital (Echelon) received planning for a new development in Clondalkin. Its proposed Arklow facility is also at the planning application stage, with a decision due soon. The Citywest Limited proposed facility received planning permission in December, and a new 16MW facility entered the planning process in Clonshaugh in Q1.
The quarterly update was published in association with Bitpower Energy Solutions.
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