Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I cannot give that commitment but I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on that. We know that more demand will mean a higher level of renewable energy on the grid to meet Ireland’s 2030 renewable targets. The Government is now developing projects and policies to encourage the development of renewable energy by the data centre sector to meet its demand and to meet the target of 15% of electricity demand from corporate power purchase agreements by 2030.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland recently conducted a public consultation on options to deliver on this target. There have been some very encouraging signs and recent developments in the sector, with large multinationals concluding power purchase agreements, as I said earlier, directly from wind farms which will not be paid for by electricity consumers. That is the model that we need to progress, namely, that these companies would conclude power purchase agreements directly from the wind farms and that all electricity users, including data centres, will pay their fair share.

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