Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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200. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of approved connection agreements entered into by EirGrid for the purposes of data centre connection on an annual basis from 2010 to 2022; the number and maximum import capacity each of those which have been granted connection agreements but have yet to be connected; the location of those connection points; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5313/23]

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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201. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he is aware of any register of data centres, including their location, energy and water requirements, held by any public entity; and if not, his views on whether a register should be available to assist with capacity planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5314/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together.

I am advised that during the period 2010-2022 EirGrid, the body responsible for developing and managing the national electricity grid, has entered into 16 connection agreements for the purposes of data centre connections. The table below shows the annual breakdown. There are six contracted projects with a total Maximum Import Capacity of circa 460 MVA that have yet to be connected to the Transmission System, with almost all of this capacity in the Dublin region.

EirGrid, in order to comply with their statutory and contractual provisions that prohibit them from sharing certain information with third parties, are not in a position to disclose individual information in relation to each of the Connection Agreements.

There is currently no register held by a public body that includes the energy and water requirements of data centres. EirGrid regularly reviews the forecasted electricity demand for the next ten years through its Generation Capacity Statement, including providing forecasts on the expected demand from Large Energy Users including Data Centres. Similarly, the CRU regularly reviews electricity and gas connection policies to ensure they align with national policy, and in line with the recently-published Climate Action Plan 2023 the CRU has set out that a review will be carried out of the gas and electricity connection policies for new Large Energy Users.

Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted directly via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie.