Irish datacenters now guzzle 23% of the country's electricity
Data centers in Ireland now consume 23% of the country's total electricity, despite government efforts to restrict new grid connections. This growth continues to outpace all other sectors, raising concerns about energy infrastructure sustainability.
Why it matters
The rapid expansion of data centers for cloud and AI services is creating significant strain on national power grids, forcing governments to reconsider energy policy.
Consumption rose another 10% while restrictions on most new grid connections remained around Dublin
Electricity used by datacenters in Ireland increased by 10 percent during 2025, despite an effective moratorium on most new datacenter grid connections in the Dublin area.
The latest figures from Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that giant server farms now account for nearly a quarter of the country's metered electricity consumption.
Their share rose to 23 percent in 2025 after passing 20 percent in 2023 and 14 percent in 2021 – up from just 5 percent way back in 2015.
According to the CSO, the energy sucked up by massive bit barns increased by 10 percent last year, expanding from 6,973 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2024 to 7,663 GWh in 2025. All other customers consumed just 2 percent more electricity over the same period.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in