Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On data centres, it is an application of a range of different solutions. I will address the biggest concept in this regard. Let us say there is a weather system coming in over the Atlantic. Obviously, wind follows that across the Atlantic to the west coast of Ireland, the Irish Sea, the UK, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and so on. I can see a world evolving where data centres that are on the front where electricity is strongest, lowest cost and cleanest are the ones that are utilised most at that time. One matches the demand to where the power is. That sophistication in terms of the ability to use energy where the renewable power is available will be key. It will require good fibre-optic network and connectivity but also scale of planning. It will even come down to the ability of the data centre to be flexible in its management of its heat load and so on. That will involve each data centre having a clear power purchase agreement for renewable zero-carbon power. It will not always be the data centre buying a wind turbine or wind farm in County Donegal and powering it across. It will be much more sophisticated than that, down to almost half-hour matching, where one can show one is delivering 100% renewable zero-carbon power to run the system.

As I stated, the waste heat issue is another example of where data centres can help to provide a part of the solution. Many of the data centres are based in west Dublin. There is probably an overconcentration of them in that area. Another part of this is them going to points on the grid where there is a much stronger grid and renewables may be available. It goes back to the idea of co-location. One could consider the development of a hybrid renewables data centre in the midlands or another area where it would be much easier to do the zero carbon than it would in west Dublin, where there is such a concentration. There is nothing wrong with west Dublin but, as there is a concentration there, we could consider whether we could do James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown or the other projects we know we have to decarbonise as a public sector obligation. It is about seeking to use that data centre capability in west Dublin or other parts of the country to meet other energy needs. It is not any one mechanism. Rather, it is a variety of applications.

There is also the issue of data centres using their back-up facilities. One cannot shut down a data centre. That is key. There is a requirement for 210kV connections and super-secure fibre connections. Backup power is required in the event of a power cut or other mechanisms. There is a need for backup systems. Using those to enhance and support the grid is another way in which data centres can contribute to the low-carbon solution. Some of their backup systems could be used to help support the grid at times when there is low wind but high demand. That is already happening but I am talking about doing it in a much more advanced and sophisticated way. The range of different mechanisms can become part of the solution.

With regard to contractors, the Deputy is correct. The biggest constraint is contractors. That is not just the case for householders. I spoke to several of the one-stop shops recently. It is really working. We have 17 one-stop shops now and they are flying. Their order books are full for next year. The biggest challenge is the lack of availability of contractors. The one-stop shops are scouring the country for anyone with capability in engineering or plumbing. What the Minister, Deputy Harris, is doing to provide apprenticeships and scale that up is working. We are getting young people into it. One has to be predictable in this regard. This industry suffered more than any other else from the stop-start approach that was in place previously. It used to be the case that the SEAI would get its budget allocation and then go out early in the new year and say they have got this much for the next six or eight months. They would start work in March or April, work to October and then wait for the next budget and see what happens. They would lay people off for six months and then start again. That is what killed the industry. The benefit of the carbon tax, more than anything else, is that we know the income for retrofitting will go up every year no matter what happens in the budget. Of the carbon tax, 55% is going to retrofitting through the warmer homes scheme for the poorest households on the lowest income, and it keeps going up every year. It is outside the budget process and the contractors know they can start training workers now because there will be customers for their work in one, two or five years’ time. That is starting to work.