Planners back €3bn Herbata data centre
data centre
complex proposed for Co Kildare in a move the project's backer expects to be appealed.
Herbata Ltd plans to build a complex of six data centre buildings at a site next to the M7 motorway and business park at Naas, Co Kildare, which recently drew criticism from environmental groups.
The company has said that it will not draw electricity from the national grid and would eventually rely completely on renewables for its energy.
Kildare County Council approved the plan on Thursday, with 77 conditions, many of which govern energy use, according to Gerry Prendergast, Herbata's chief executive.
READ MORE
He pledged that the company would ensure the project was built to comply with the terms laid down by planners.
However, Mr Prendergast acknowledged that opponents were likely to appeal Kildare County Council's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Why is Ireland not considered a truly rich country?
Listen |
39:28
He noted that it was mostly environmental groups that had objected to the plan.
Friends of the Earth Ireland, heritage group An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment lodged objections recently. Business body Kildare Chamber urged the council to grant permission.
Herbata provided the council with extensive further information on the project in June. The latest objections and support followed that.
Mr Prendergast stressed that the company valued what the environmental groups had to say, but argued that they had not understood the project.
'We are going to be the first to do it in this way,' he said. Mr Prendergast added that the complex would be able to provide standby power to the electricity grid.
Herbata plans to source 50 per cent of its electricity from corporate power purchase agreements with wind and solar farms.
The company hired consultants BOS Energy to negotiate these deals. It has provided the council with draft legal agreements and letters from two likely green electricity suppliers.
It will have an on-site gas-fired power plant to provide the other 50 per cent of its electricity needs which it has designed to be low on fuel consumption and emissions.
Mr Prendergast hopes its fuel mix will be 20 per cent hydrogen, which does not emit carbon dioxide, to begin with, increasing to 100 per cent by 2039. The plant will also be able to burn renewable gas.
The project will cost €3 billion and should take around eight years to complete.
Herbata's site includes an iron-age roasting pit or fulacht fiadh, which the company has also agreed to protect.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Irish fitness racing brand Tryka lands multiyear Life Style Sports sponsorship
Irish fitness competition brand Tryka has signed a 'game-changing' multiyear, title sponsorship with Life Style Sports in advance of its inaugural national event at the RDS in October. The fitness racing brand, which was created by Freshly Chopped founder Brian Lee, has been modelled as a more accessible version of German company Hyrox 's popular indoor fitness competition. The hybrid fitness league is made up of a combination of resistance and cardio exercise and is designed for participants of all fitness levels. The race format includes a series of running intervals paired with 'functional' fitness movements, with a shorter, beginner-friendly format called Tryka 500. Tryka said the deal with Life Style Sports is 'game-changing' and claimed it was 'one of the biggest ever secured by an Irish fitness start-up', but the company did not disclose the value of the deal. READ MORE 'We're delighted to have Life Style Sports on board as our title partner,' said Mr Lee, adding that their new partner understood 'the power of sport to bring people together at a local level'. In partnering with Life Style Sports, Mr Lee said Tryka was 'set to ignite a nationwide fitness revolution' and that the sponsorship would allow the business to 'grow faster, reach more people and put Ireland on the map in the emerging hybrid fitness space'. Why is Ireland not considered a truly rich country? Listen | 39:28 As part of the deal, Life Style Sports will sell Tryka's new apparel range online and in selected stores, with the gear also available at the brand's fitness events. 'Life Style Sports has a deep connection to local sport and fitness culture across Ireland, and their support will help us engage more communities, create lasting impact and grow Tryka,' he said. Mark Stafford, the chief executive of Life Style Sports – which has 40 stores across Ireland – said the company was 'proud to support an Irish-led fitness movement that's bringing people together in a new and exciting way'. He said the partnership would help Life Style Sports to 'help more people get active, stay motivated and experience the power of sport, no matter their starting point.' The first national Tryka event is set for October 11th-12th at the RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin, with tickets costing €110 per participant. The event will be part of a 12-month race calendar, which will culminate in a season finale in the Algarve in 2026. The brand will be running community workout sessions and race simulations at affiliate gyms across the country to promote the event in October.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
Priests demand Irish Catholic Church sever ties with Allianz over Israel links
The Catholic Church in Ireland has been called on to immediately sever its long-standing relationship with Allianz insurance because of the multinational's connection with Israel . In a statement on Thursday, the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) said that last June, a report published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN alleged Allianz helped 'to sustain and pay for Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories'. The UN report, led by the special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, found that asset management firms including Pimco , which is owned by German-based financial services company Allianz, was a significant buyer of Israeli treasury bonds. These bonds, the report argued, play a 'critical role in funding the ongoing assault on Gaza '. READ MORE The ACP pointed out that 'for decades, Allianz has been the trusted friend of the Catholic Church – even to the extent of enjoying representation on the Allianz board – with Catholic Church properties in Ireland including places of worship, schools, cars, etc almost all being insured by Allianz as a matter of course.' It said that 'outrage' in the church at events in Gaza would be increased exponentially by 'the revelation of the Irish Catholic Church's connection with Allianz and Allianz's connection with the state of Israel'. 'We ask that the response of the Irish Catholic Church should be immediate and far-reaching in cutting our links with Allianz,' it said. 'Nothing less is acceptable, as Irish Catholics will now be conscious of the Allianz connection – albeit by extension – and of our connection with the plight of the children we see on our television screens.' It noted how 'coincidentally' next Sunday, Catholic Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin, 'together with his fellow bishops', was 'leading a 'Day of Prayer and Reflection for Gaza' in the parishes and dioceses of Ireland'. The Archbishop, it said, had issued a pastoral letter calling for 'renewed commitment by the international community for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East'. It also encouraged Catholic religious congregations and dioceses to exercise high levels of due diligence in scrutinising investment portfolios to determine whether they were helping to sustain the 'appalling human rights abuse being inflicted on the Palestinian people'. The ACP noted, too, a petition by GAA members which had brought attention to the Allianz-GAA relationship and demands that it be ended. The association felt 'a similar demand is likely to emerge when the long and close commercial relationship of Allianz and the Catholic Church in Ireland becomes clear'. Almost 800 football, hurling and camogie players have signed an open letter asking the GAA to end its relationship with Allianz, claiming its financial ties were 'enabling the genocide of the Palestinian people'. The letter was delivered to Tom Ryan, director general of the GAA, at a protest outside Croke Park on Wednesday. Allianz is a sponsor of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship, the Allianz Leagues, the Camogie Association and Cumann na mBunscol. In a response to the GAA petition, Allianz said: 'Our long-standing partnership with the GAA is about supporting Irish sport and communities. 'Allianz Ireland is part of a global group and, while the wider group operates internationally across insurance and investment, as a matter of principle we do not comment on individual customers or business matters. What we can say is that all Allianz business decisions are guided by strict legal standards and world-leading ESG principles.' A spokesman for Allianz had 'no comment' on the ACP statement.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the US/EU trade statement: some certainty on tariffs
It is unlikely that for as long as US president Donald Trump is in power the environment for trade will ever be settled. Potential chaos will always be around the corner. However, it is important to recognise the better days, too, and yesterday falls into this category. The agreed EU/US statement on trade – following the handshake deal more than three weeks ago between Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen – is first of all important in and of itself. Initially expected within days of the meeting in Scotland, its nonappearance had raised fears that both sides were not on the same page. Now, an agreed piece of paper with important details has been signed off in Brussels and Washington. And some of the detail suggests that the EU side may have got more from the deal than some have suggested. Time will tell. In particular, a commitment to cap tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors at 15 per cent removes some uncertainty. There had been fears of higher tariffs in these areas following special studies being undertaken on them by the Trump administration. READ MORE Presuming the deal sticks, this will not now happen, while some areas of pharma will be excluded altogether. That said, as with other sectors, tariffs impose costs on consumers and producers and are a no-win policy approach. The 15 per cent tariffs on many exports – and the expectation of something similar on pharma – will be a burden on exporters. They will also damage the US economy and push up prices. Trump's tariff agenda is still bad news for Ireland and uncertainties remain about the impact of his wider industrial policy. But the codification of large elements of the US/EU deal at least keeps this process on track and avoids a transatlantic trade war. It also gives some more clarity to key sectors of the economy and raises hopes that the worst can be avoided. More battles and uncertainty remain ahead, but the publication of the joint statement is a positive step.
