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Irish Examiner
09-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Data centre firm launches two new projects in Wicklow
Irish-based data centre developer Echelon has officially launched two new projects in Wicklow which the company said will create over 700 jobs when construction is completed. The two data centres are named the DUB20 and DUB30 facilities and Echelon said it will invest an estimated €3.5bn in their construction. The company said this would create 2,600 construction jobs and 715 permanent positions at the two facilities once they are operational. The DUB20 campus is being developed on the site of the former Irish Fertilisers Industries plant at the Avoca River Business Park in Arklow while the DUB30 campus is being developed some 5km away at Kish Business Park. Construction on DUB20 will commence this year, with construction on DUB30 to follow after. Graeme McWilliams, Echelon chief operations officer said these new sites represent 'responsible data centre development which supports regional development and job creation in partnership with good grid citizenship'. 'The energy demands of DUB20 and DUB30 will underpin investment in almost 1GW of wind-generated renewable energy, power that will help reinforce the national grid, increase Ireland's energy security, and support our transition from fossil fuels to clean, green energy sources.' Last year, DUB20 received grid connection from EirGrid after a pause on the connections for large-scale data centres. The grid connection will allow the company to begin work on a 220kV substation at the site that will allow access to the grid for up to 800MW of wind energy generated off the coast of Wicklow in the future. Echelon Data Centres is an Irish-based international data centre infrastructure developer. It has operations in the UK, Europe as well as North America. The new data centres are supported by Taoiseach Micheál Martin who spoke at the launch in Arklow on Friday. 'These two large-scale facilities demonstrate Echelon's commitment to responsible data centre development,' Mr Martin said. 'They are located in a regional area where the grid isn't constrained, they will have the capacity to generate and dispatch power to the grid when needed, and they will facilitate the generation of renewable energy resources that will, in turn, help decarbonise Ireland's electricity system.' An Economic Impact Assessment, paid for by Echelon and conducted by accountancy firm KPMG, found that the data centres could have a significant impact on the economy. It said the economic impact could be €7.5bn during construction and €801m per year once both campuses are operational. Read More Microsoft vows to protect European operations and unveils data centre expansion
RTÉ News
09-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Work to begin on large-scale data centre in Arklow
Work is to begin later this year on the first of two large-scale data centres in Arklow, Co Wicklow, which will create 715 permanent jobs as well as 2,600 roles during construction. The project has a total investment of €3.5 billion. The development is by Irish-owned company Echelon Data Centres which had operations in the UK, North America and Europe. The first of the two facilities was granted an electrical connection last year because it is located in an area where power supplies are not constrained. The project will also generate electricity which will be fed into the national grid. Its power will come from a mixture gas and renewables including solar, battery storage and biomethane. The project will have the facility to generate power and dispatch it to the electricity grid when needed. The first of the two data centres is being developed on the former Irish Fertilisers Industries plant at the Avoca River Business Park in Arklow. The second is being developed 5km away at Kish Business Park. The grid connection will allow Echelon to begin work on a 220kV substation that will allow access to the grid for up to 800MW of wind energy which is to be generated off the coast of Co Wicklow in future. The company says its investment in renewable fuels will "replace fossil fuel consumed". Last year the first facility, DUB20, became the first large scale data centre to receive a grid connection from State body Eirgrid for more than four years. The company said this reflected the fact that the site meets the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities criteria for data centres. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the data centres "will deliver jobs and economic benefits for Wicklow and will encourage further foreign direct investment in Ireland". Last year, Echelon announced Starwood Capital Group had invested approximately €850m to become a 50% shareholder in the company. Both data centres will have to total IT load capacity of 90 megawatts each. Echelon already has data centres in Dublin and the UK and is run by CEO Niall Molloy. Friends of the Earth has raised major issues with data centres. Its campaign director Jerry MacEvilly said that the "significant problem is that data centres such as this are dependent on expensive, polluting gas power plants for long periods and often use significant amounts of gas".
