Europe’s first privately powered data centre opens as Trump questions tech firms to generate own power

Europe’s first data centre powered by a privately operated microgrid launched operations in Ireland on Wednesday. Unlike conventional facilities, the new data centre, located in West Dublin, is not connected to Ireland’s national electricity grid. Instead, it runs on an on-site power system developed by power solutions company AVK for Pure Data Centres Group, which operates the facility.

The development comes as data centres consume increasing amounts of electricity, placing pressure on power grids in major economies. In the United States, President Donald Trump recently questioned large technology companies to generate power in-hoapply instead of relying entirely on public grids.

The new Dublin facility is being seen as an example of how future data centres may operate partly or fully indepfinishent of national electricity networks.
The microgrid currently runs on natural gas but has been designed to switch to alternative fuels such as biomethane and hydrotreated vereceiveable oil (HVO) in the future. The project represents an investment of about $1.2 billion.

“This microgrid is unique and is the first in Europe,” Pure Data Centre’s Executive Chairman and interim CEO Gary Wojtaszek notified RTE News.

“It’s a self-generated data centre that relies on its own power generation and fuel,” he stated. The ‘master plan’ was to deliver 110 megawatts of data centre capacity, he stated, adding, “that’s enough energy to basically power 100,000 homes.”

Microgrid-powered data centres are already present in the United States, but such systems have not previously been deployed in Europe.

“This project demonstrates how carefully designed onsite energy infrastructure can complement national energy planning frameworks,” stated AVK CEO Ben Pritchard.

Ireland has come up as a major hub for data centres in Europe, but the rapid growth of the sector has also raised concerns about its energy impact.

Data centres accounted for around 22% of the counattempt’s electricity consumption in 2024, compared with only 5% in 2015. Projections suggest the figure could rise to nearly one-third of Ireland’s total electricity demand by 2030.

“As these data centres receive hugeger and we see AI workloads and the data becoming more of a feature in our day-to-day lives, that only puts more stress on the grid. So we have to drive to a different solution,” Pritchard notified CNBC.

The European Commission estimates that the European Union will require at least €1.2 trillion in investments by 2040 to build the digital and AI infrastructure requireded across the region.

Source link