Clare County Council has granted planning permission for a data centre on the outskirts of Ennis.
The €450 million project is still subject to approval by An Bord Pleanála and follows a recent public meeting held by Futureproof Clare where environmental concerns regarding the project were aired.
Estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of euro, Ennis data centre has been given the green light by Clare County Council.
The centre will be located on a campus on the Tulla Road on the eastern outskirts of Ennis at Junction 13 on the M18 motorway
Art Data Centres, the developer behind the project, will create between 400- 450 permanent jobs when fully operational, while up to 1,200 will be employed in construction and 600 jobs in support services.
A new Government Policy Statement on the role of Data Centres in Ireland was published at the end of July which outlines a preference for developments that make efficient use of our electricity grid and that can demonstrate renewable energy use
The Ennis campus’ approval by the locality authority indicates its considered to align with the policy.
The scheme will have access to 200 mega-watts of power from both the network grid and gas generation on site.
Art Data Centres, who are working on the project, has previously told Clare FM it sees the centre tapping into the growing number of renewable energy developments… that offer clean sources of power’.
Mr Tom McNamara, CEO of Art Data Centres, has welcomed the announcement and insists ‘the project will be a key pillar of the Ennis 2040 Economic Plan which was launched by Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Leo Varadkar in 2021”
Mr. McNamara insists the centre ‘fulfils the Government’s key requirements immediately while state bodies, regulators and the electricity sector work to upgrade infrastructure, connect more renewable energy and ensure security of supply’ and believes that the site will help deliver ‘ongoing opportunities for the country in the tech industry.’
