Impeding new data centres 'could impact our economic future', says appeal

Gordon Deegan

Impeding the construction of new data centres here "could significantly impact our economic future”.

That is according to an appeal lodged to An Bord Pleanala by Servecentric against a decision by Fingal Co Council to refuse a new data centre for Blanchardstown Corporate Park, Ballycoolin, Dublin 15.

In the appeal, Senior Planner at Tom Phillips + Associates, Linda Colleran on behalf of Servecentric has stated that there is an emerging trend of Dublin local authorities refusing applications for data centres regardless of the operators’ commitment to flexibly supply power to support the national grid in a sustainable manner.

On the Servecentric proposal, Ms Colleran states that “although smaller in scale when compared to many of the hyperscale data centres in the nearby area, the proposed development will undoubtedly support the digital economy while operating through the most sustainable means possible”.

Ms Colleran states that during the course of the appeal, “we demonstrate that the proposal will not lead to additional carbon emissions and will operate with minimal environmental impact”.

Ms Colleran states that the proposal “will safeguard Ireland’s progress towards meeting its renewable energy targets”.

The local authority refused planning permission after it stated that it is not satisfied that the proposed development is in accordance with the Government Policy Statement on the “Role of Data Centres in Ireland’s Enterprise Strategy 2022”.

Planning permission was previously granted for a warehouse/logistics unit in August 2022 and Servecentric was seeking to amend the permission to change the warehouse use to data centre use.

In the appeal, Ms Colleran stated that the Council’s planner’s report “lacked sufficient grounds to justify a refusal of the application.

Ms Colleran has told the appeals board that the applicant has made efforts to incorporate renewable energy in powering the data centre wherever feasible.

She said that there is no basis in planning legislation to require an equivalent amount of renewable energy or to offset power demand by developing new renewable energy infrastructure directly linked to a development.

In the appeal, Ms Colleran states that the proposed data centre “holds the potential to bring substantial positive benefits to the local community”.

She states that the project will generate local employment opportunities, contribute significant annual rates to Fingal Co Council, and present an avenue for local community investment in the project.

Ms Colleran stated that “there is a connection agreement in place between the landowner and ESB Networks. The change of use from a permitted warehouse/logistics to a data centre will not result in increased power demand beyond the previously agreed capacity”.

In a separate letter lodged as part of the appeal, ceo of Servecentric Ltd, Brian Roe has stated that Servecentric is an Irish-owned SME which "contrasts with most other data centre operations in the country, the majority of which are owned and operated by multinational publicly listed organisations”.

A decision is expected on the case by An Bord Pleanala later this year.