Regional guides › Ireland & Dublin
AI data centers in Ireland & Dublin
Dublin moved from the canonical moratorium market to the canonical conditional market. CRU's connection policy reopened applications — priced in ≥80% additional renewables + matched dispatchable — while EirGrid still classifies Greater Dublin itself as fully constrained. It remains the leading indicator for how European grid operators gate data-center load.
Where the deltas are derived
- Chapter 3.2 — Grid Access, Large-Load Service & Speed-to-Power
- Chapter 3.4 — Energy Supply Strategy: Grid PPA, BYOP & Co-Location
- Chapter 3.9 — Permitting, Regulatory, Environmental & the Critical Path
- Chapter 4.2 — Utility Interconnect, On-Site Substation & MV Distribution
- Chapter 15.8 — Grid Impact, Energy-Systems Integration & Grid Services
- Appendix G — Regional & International Design Deltas: Consolidated Quick-Reference Crosswalk
Ireland & Dublin in the register
| Figure | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| EirGrid classification of Greater Dublin for new data-centre connections — new large connections cannot be accommodated before major network reinforcement (short-circuit limits); surrounding areas also expected to remain constrained | fully constrained | May 2026 | EirGrid |
| contracted data-centre grid demand in Ireland, mostly in Greater Dublin — nearly one-third of national electricity demand if all sites connect and use their full contracts | ~2 GW | May 2026 | EirGrid |
| indicative near-term data-centre connection headroom outside Dublin, concentrated at selected Galway, Limerick and Cork 220 kV nodes — subject to individual assessment, with delivery potentially mid-2030s | ~150-300 MW | May 2026 | EirGrid |
| projected installed data-centre IT capacity in Ireland by 2030 under existing grid contracts (+19% vs the 2025 base of ~1,543 MW); a further ~1.4 GW development pipeline is not grid-approved | ~1,843 MW | Jun 2026 | Department of Enterprise / KPMG (Jun 2026) |
| Celtic Interconnector Ireland-France capacity (575 km route, ~500 km subsea); expected commissioning Q4 2028 — slipped from the original 2027 schedule | 700 MW | Jul 2026 | EirGrid |
| share of all Uisce Éireann drinking water supplied to data centres — small nationally, but Greater Dublin demand already brushes maximum sustainable source capacity (up to ~680 ML/day on warm days) pending the Shannon-source Water Supply Project | <0.3% | Jul 2026 | Uisce Éireann |
| Irish corporation tax on trading income — with the 15% Pillar Two minimum effective rate applying to in-scope groups (≥€750M global turnover in 2 of the preceding 4 years), i.e. every hyperscaler; FDI posture remains supportive but plan-led and renewables-conditioned | 12.5% headline / 15% Pillar Two | Jul 2026 | Revenue; Department of Finance |
| Large Energy User Action Plan (Jan 2026) enabling actions — including legislating the Private Wires Policy during 2026 and a National Planning Statement for green-energy parks co-locating large loads with renewables | 17 actions | Jan 2026 | Department of Enterprise LEAP |
| CRU/2025236 (Dec 2025) conditions to connect new large energy users: sites ≥10 MVA must bring matching dispatchable generation/storage (separately connected, market-participating) and meet ≥80% of annual demand from additional Irish renewable generation on a six-year glide path | ≥80% additional renewables + matched dispatchable | Dec 2025 | CRU decision paper CRU/2025236 |
| installed operational data-centre IT capacity in Ireland (72 buildings, 36 sites, 25 operators) — ~99% of it in the Greater Dublin Area, ~1.36 GW of it hyperscale | ~1,543 MW | Dec 2025 | Department of Enterprise / KPMG (Jun 2026) |
| EU EED Art. 12 reporting threshold (installed IT power); ~31 data points incl. PUE/WUE/ERF/REF · Ch 3.9 | ≥500 kW | 2026-08-24 | Directive (EU) 2023/1791 Art. 12; Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 Arts. 3 and 5 |
| share of Ireland's total metered electricity consumed by data centres in 2025 (7,663 GWh of 32,986 GWh, +10% YoY; up from ~5% in 2015, 21% in 2023, 22% in 2024) · Ch 3.13 | 23% | 2025 (published Jul 2026) | CSO |
| carbon intensity of Irish electricity consumption, 2025 provisional (generation + own-use + network losses; gas ~40% of supply) | ~198 gCO2/kWh | 2025 (provisional) | SEAI conversion factors |
| renewable share of Irish electricity supply in 2025 (wind 32.0%; gas 40.0%, net imports 16.3%) | 40.9% | 2025 (interim) | SEAI Interim 2025 National Energy Balance (May 2026) |
| SEM (all-island Irish market) day-ahead average power price for calendar 2025 — ~34% above the ~€85/MWh 2025 European Power Benchmark (EU range €41-116/MWh) | ~€114/MWh | 2025 | SEMOpx; European Commission DG Energy |
Regulatory watchlist
| Rule | Threshold | Status / next action | Source | Verified | Review by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU — EED Art. 26(6)–(7) — waste-heat use and installation-level cost-benefit analysis | >1 MW total rated energy input; CBA for new or substantially refurbished data centers | In force through Member-State implementation Next: Track national transposition, exemptions, approval procedure, and project CBA | Directive (EU) 2023/1791 | 2026-08-24 | 2026-11-24 |
| EU — EED Art. 12 / Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 — mandatory data-center KPI reporting | ≥500 kW installed IT power | In force; annual submission Next: Next report due 15 May 2027 for calendar 2026 | Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 | 2026-08-24 | 2027-02-15 |
| EU — Directive (EU) 2026/470 — post-Omnibus CSRD scope and timing | >1,000 average employees AND >€450M net turnover (individual or consolidated, as applicable) | Directive in force; Member-State transposition pending Next: Transposition of Articles 1–3 due 19 Mar 2027 | Directive (EU) 2026/470 | 2026-08-24 | 2026-12-15 |
What this means for your schedule
New applications are possible under EirGrid's current policy, but the terms are the schedule: the demand site, nominated dispatchable generation, and nominated additional renewables move as linked applications, while Greater Dublin remains fully constrained. The live paths are regional Ireland, where EirGrid identifies ~150-300 MW at selected nodes subject to individual assessment, or treating Ireland as a latency/sovereignty satellite to capacity built elsewhere in Europe.
Turn this into dates: the lead-time planner reverse-schedules every long-lead PO from your target — the queue figures above set which packages are already late.