Planning submitted for €1.2bn data centre campus in Ennis

A planning application has been submitted for a new €1.2 billion data centre campus in Ennis, Co Clare.

The project is expected to create 250 data centre jobs, 1,200 construction jobs and 600 induced jobs in support services.

The proposed Art Data Centre Campus will cover 145 acres or 1.3 million square feet, made up of a vertical farm and six data halls.

The proposed site, adjacent to Ennis, was zoned in 2019 for ‘Data Centres & Power Generating Infrastructure’ and the centre’s construction is expected to be phased over a six-year period, commencing in late 2022.

The campus will have access to 200 mega-watts of power from both the network grid and gas generation on site.

A planning application has been submitted for a new €1.2 billion data centre campus in Ennis, Co Clare.

Clare County Council has previously identified the centre as a “key pillar” of the Ennis 2040 Economic Plan for the area.

Tom McNamara, from development managers Tom McNamara & Partners, said Ennis was a “natural home” for the project.

“With Eirgrid increasingly focused on data centres locating away from Dublin and the east coast to reduce pressure on existing grid infrastructure in those areas, projects like this can avail of underused grid capacity in other regions and tap into the growing number of renewable energy developments in the west and south of the country that offer clean sources of power,” he said.

“Additionally, more dispersed data centre developments like this help diversify economic growth and job creation to regions outside of Dublin.”

The submission of the Art Data Centre planning application follows an online public consultation run by Tom McNamara & Partners.