Our Impact
Boyne Energy Campus, Ireland
Background:
Meridiam and Gyrogy, an Irish technology developer, have partnered to redevelop an industrial site located in Drogheda. The redevelopment includes the demolition and remediation of an energy intensive industrial site, utilising existing grid and utility infrastructure and delivering a grey-to-green conversion in a regional growth centre 15 minutes north of Dublin. The objective is to redevelop this industrial site and transform it into a modern, mixed-use industrial campus offering low carbon energy solutions and a new-built data centre.
Ireland is home to 71 hyperscale data centres, making up 21% of all European hyperscale demand, bringing valuable economic impact but putting a huge strain on Ireland’s national electricity network. As such, the Commission for Regulated Utilities (CRU) issued a moratorium ban on new data centre grid connections unless they bring dispatchable generation and demand flexibility.
As such, the solution Meridiam and Gyrogy are developing leverages the existing grid connection onsite and includes electricity storage ensuring the energy consumed on site has a lower carbon footprint than the grid while providing ancillary services such as frequency control and capacity market reducing stress on the grid.
Status:
Under development
ESG / SDG Key Facts:
25% of the global data centre market generated revenue is attributable to Europe and revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 5%. This will increase the strain data centres add to the grid as the average hyperscale facility consumes 20-50MW annually – theoretically enough electricity to power up to 37,000 homes. Pressure to make data centres more sustainable as they continue to grow is therefore high, and regulators and governments (including Ireland) are imposing sustainability standards on newly built data centres.
The Project’s activities directly benefit core SDGs:
• The transition from a carbon-intensive grey industry with little job opportunities to a green campus is a positive impact on both the local economy and environment
• The Data Centre delivered by the Project will comply with all regulatory constraints, also providing required energy generation and grid flexibility which will lessen the strain on the Irish network as Data Centres used almost a fifth of Irish electricity
• The Project thus enables the development of a new data centre with much needed data capacity, benefiting Irish and European consumers
• The production of on-site renewable energy will greenify the grid and the industry
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