Government to class data centres as ‘strategic infrastructure’ despite energy crisis

Move comes after Eirgrid warning of national grid being stretched beyond capacity due to demand from the centres

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told Amazon, the US tech giant, that the government would seek to “streamline” the planning and judicial review processes for data centres, which the industry has complained is holding up development of new facilities. Picture: RollingNews.ie

The government is set to press ahead with new regulations to designate data centres as “strategic infrastructure”, despite the unfolding energy crisis facing the country, the Business Post has learned.

The move, which will grant data centre developers access to the fast-track planning process, comes after Eirgrid warned last week that the electricity system is stretched beyond capacity due to the “unprecedented” growth in demand from the facilities, as well as the wider electrification of ...