Maurice Mortell the chair of Digital Infrastructure Ireland
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
News Talk Breakfast with Keira Kelly and Shane Coleman. In association with AIR. Weekday mornings at 7 on News Talk.
An estimated $5.2 trillion worth of investment is set to go into data centres over the next five years to meet the huge anticipated demand for AI services. Very little of that will take place in Ireland. According to Digital Infrastructure Ireland, an effective moratorium on new centres alongside crippling infrastructure inadequacies such as water and power signals that Ireland is effectively closed for business. DII, which champions data centre investment, says the entire economy will lose out without major strategic change in government policy. And Maurice Martel is the chair of Digital Infrastructure Ireland and is sitting in front of me. Good morning, Maurice.
Good morning, Joe. Thank you for having me on.
What is the current state of play when it comes to data centres in terms of the law? We know that Eamon Ryan, the previous environment minister, imposed a moratorium. Is that quasi-lifted now or what is the situation?
What is the projected investment in data centres over the next five years?
No, that's still in place. So the moratorium is still in place at the moment. So that means no new digital data centres? No. So the CRU hasn't issued its large... This is the regulator? Yeah. Hasn't issued its large energy use or policy direction yet for connections onto the grid. So for the last four years, the industry has been more or less in limbo.
So all the stuff that's opening up now has been in the pipeline for years, is that it? Absolutely, yeah. Okay. Do you accept that data centers will eventually account for something like 30 to a third of our entire electricity demand in the next five years?
Yes, is the answer. I mean, but the reality is there's no investment in the grid in that timeframe.
Why is Ireland considered closed for business regarding data centres?
So without investment in the grid and increasing the capacity of the grid, you're not going to be able, you're going to be just using up a part of the pie, the same pie all the time. Which is not being expanded. It's not being expanded. So you're, how can you, you know, if you're going to use more energy, you're going to have more of that pie and it's going to be a higher percentage.
Do you accept that a third is a huge amount for an economy to have on one sector only, data centres?
No, I don't. I think that digital infrastructure is going to be a huge pillar for the future of our economic growth. Digitization is right across the world. Data centers are key to everyday life. And Ireland has positioned itself as one of the... de facto premiership players in the digital infrastructure industry in Europe. Unfortunately, over the last number of years, that image has been tarnished significantly by the CRU sort of lack of decision making, lack of clarity around what's happening with our energy, what's happening with the investment in the grid, systems operators not necessarily talking to the industry around getting new connections. So we've kind of got ourselves into a position where there's almost complete inertia.
And just some of the figures I think is very important to point out. Since 2010, the digital infrastructure industry has invested 18 billion in infrastructure in Ireland. 5.8 billion of that is in stranded projects. And by stranded projects, I mean, this is projects that have started, have planning permission, have bought land, but don't have a connection to the grid. In some cases, they have bought land, they've got the sites cleared. In some cases, they've built the sites and there's no energy connected and they can't get an energy connection. And they can't get a conversation with the systems operators. And we have another 7.8 billion of projects in the pipeline.
Which may or may not get completed.
And these are ones, these aren't, this isn't AI, this is just...
projects that were planned to be delivered in Ireland. I presume you welcomed the budget from last week, which focused on infrastructure rather than giving a tax cut to the rest of us.
Yeah, I mean, so the investment of 3.5 billion announced last week is welcome.
What is the current legal situation regarding data centres in Ireland?
I think, you know, for air grid.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–1:06
2
What is the projected investment in data centres over the next five years?
1:06–1:48
3
Why is Ireland considered closed for business regarding data centres?
1:48–4:03
4
What is the current legal situation regarding data centres in Ireland?
4:03–6:35
5
How will data centres impact Ireland's electricity demand in the coming years?
6:35–7:29