Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 June 2026
144. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the assessment his Department has made on the impact of projected growth in data centre electricity demand on Ireland’s climate targets and security of supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44688/26]
View answerData centres, like all large energy users, have to exist within the boundaries of our climate legislation and targets. The Government is committed to delivering a balanced approach to facilitate sustainable data centre demand while also ensuring overall energy security and affordability for consumers and businesses.
The Government policy statement on data centres from 2022 recognised that the ’twin transitions’ of digitalisation and decarbonisation of our economy and society must be complementary. The Statement sets out principles to support data centre developments that not only support strong economic activity but developments that make efficient use of our electricity grid, and deliver renewable energy in Ireland.
The Large Energy User Action Plan (LEAP) published in January 2026 advances and complements the 2022 Government Statement, it sets out a ‘plan-led’ approach for very large and energy intensive investments, which due to their scale and energy consumption benefit from coordinated national infrastructure planning.
Under LEAP, my Department, in collaboration with the System Operators and Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) will model and consider a range of plan-led LEU development scenarios and locations. The modelling work will provide Government with insights for consideration on the impact of future LEU demand on the energy system with regard to infrastructure requirements, infrastructure cost, and sustainability objectives. The outcomes will be used to inform policy choices going forward, to support a more integrated approach to a plan-led energy system agreed across System Operators, the regulator and Government.
Alongside LEAP, the CRU’s Large Energy Users Connection Policy was published in December 2025. This sets out a pathway for new large demand connection applications to the electricity system which addresses risks in relation to security of supply and system constraints and promotes renewable energy targets, while minimising, where possible, the impact on national carbon emissions. Under this policy, data centres above a certain threshold will be required to meet at least 80% of their annual demand with new additional renewable electricity generated in the Republic of Ireland.
To ensure ongoing decarbonisation of the electricity system, incentivising greater demand efficiency and flexibility by LEUs is also essential. The National Energy Demand Strategy by CRU sets out a series of actions by the regulator and System Operators to unlock greater demand flexibility. In addition, Article 12 of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) includes requirements to enhance the energy efficiency of data centres. Data centres in Ireland, and across the EU, are reporting this information to this EU database. The information will be used to inform future policy at national and EU level, including the establishment of an EU wide rating scheme to measure and promote efficiencies in the energy and sustainability performance of data centres.
