Echelon Data Centres said a key decision by Eirgrid to provide a grid connection for the company's DUB20 data centre campus in Co Wicklow will ensure investment of €3.5 billion and 1,300 jobs. Echelon said it will create 1,100 jobs during construction of the new data centre campus in Arklow. 200 permanent positions will also be created once the data centre is operational.
DUB20 is the first large-scale data centre to meet the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities' 2021 criteria for data centre connections.Onsite energy centres at the facility will have the capacity to provide security of supply services to EirGrid, the country's Transmission System Operator (TSO), when renewable generation output drops below grid demand.
The grid connection will allow Echelon to begin work on a 220kV substation at the site that will allow access to the grid for renewable energy generated off the coast of Wicklow in the future.Echelon is also investing in solar, battery energy storage systems, and renewable fuels to replace fossil fuel consumed by the data centre.