Amazon planning new Dublin data centre
Tue 9 Jan 2018
Amazon is hoping to build another data centre in Dublin despite objections to its previous proposal for a campus in the Irish capital.
The proposed new build, as reported by the Irish Independent, will come in at 88,500 sq. feet and cost around €45 million (approx. £40 million), will be built in Tallaght in South Dublin, next to an existing Amazon data centre.
Amazon has a history of investment into Ireland, which most recently includes a proposal for a campus of seven data centres in Dublin, as well as taking over sites such as a former Tesco distribution centre. It also employs nearly 2000 people in the country, with offices in Cork as well as the capital. Total investment into the country amounts to more than €1 billion.
Following initial proposals for a €200 million data centre in Mulhuddart, just outside of Dublin, it later emerged that Amazon had made plans for the previously mentioned campus, containing seven data centres.
However, the Seattle giant’s Irish journey has not been entirely easy, with its campus plans being thwarted by an objection from Allan Daly, a resident of Galway, in the west of the country.
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Daly, an engineer, questioned whether or not the Irish network would be able to handle the increased demand from massive data centres such as those proposed by Amazon. His objection argued that Fingal County Council, the authority responsible for granting permission, should not do so until an assessment of the country’s renewable energy levels had been completed.
An Bord Pleanála, the body that makes decisions on local planning appeals in Ireland, had originally intended to make a decision by November 24th last year. However, that date has been pushed back and a new date is not yet available.
Amazon is not the only major player having trouble with its data centres in Ireland. Apple has also gone through a torturous process, with its Dublin data centre, originally announced in 2015, only recently leaving planning purgatory, after multiple appeals and delays in the courts.
