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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY Council will use excess heat from Amazon’s new data centre in Tallaght to warm nearby homes and businesses in Ireland’s first public system based around one of the power-hungry facilities.
The local authority recently called for expressions of interest in a multimillion-euro contract to design, build and operate the ‘South Dublin District Heating System’.
A district heating system captures waste heat that is then redistributed to homes and premises around an area for functions such as central or water heating.
Using “low-grade waste heat” from Amazon’s site at the old Jacob’s biscuit factory on Belgard Road, the heating will be supplied through an energy centre designed and installed by the cloud computing giant as part of its planning approval for the data centre.
A not-for-profit called South Dublin DH Company will be set up by the council and tasked with the management and future development of the district heating system.
According to a report published by data centre industry group Host In Ireland, the project will be the first of its kind on these shores.
The scheme will provide heating to South Dublin County Council buildings as well as a new residential development made up of 1,200 apartments and 339 student accommodation units, which is currently in the planning process.
Properties in the area dubbed ‘Phase 1′ that are deemed “economically feasible to connect” will also be hooked up to the district heating system. This area includes Tallaght Hospital buildings.
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Funding
It is estimated the heating system will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the area by nearly 1,900 tonnes every year.
South Dublin council said the project will decrease emissions associated with fossil fuels and “establish Tallaght as a leader in innovation in the area of climate change”.
The capital investment required to connect and supply all guaranteed customers in Phase 1 and provide capacity for future connections is estimated to be €4.9 million.
This will be either be entirely funded by South Dublin County Council or as part of a co-investment with an energy service company.
The project will also receive funding from the EU’s HeatNet programme, a near-€7 million fund for schemes that reduce CO2 emissions in Europe’s north-west.
The council estimated the value of the advertised contract to build and maintain the district heating system is between €5.8 million and €7 million.
If additional customers are connected and supplied over a 10-year period, the contract term is estimated to be worth up €14.8 million.
Planning approval
Amazon was granted planning permission in August to build the two-storey, 23,283 sq m data centre on lands that previously housed a Jacob’s biscuit factory.
One of 23 conditions attached to the planning permission included the provision of an energy centre to collect and redistribute excess heat into the local area.
South Dublin County Council’s decision was initially objected by Irish Life, but the pension fund later withdrew its An Bord Pleanála appeal.
There are currently 48 data centres in operation in Ireland, mostly in the greater Dublin area.
According to previous reports, investment in Irish facilities has surged in recent years and is expected to surpass the €1 billion mark this year, significantly driving up energy demand across the country.
A July report by Host In Ireland recommended the introduction of Nordic-style district heating systems using excess energy from data centre developments.
Data centres typically consume large amounts of power to run and cool the computer servers they house.
The masterplan for a separate Amazon facility in Dublin, for example, could require as much energy as a small city at times of peak demand.
Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie
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The council selling are this as being leaders in climate change innovation? Surely having no data centre there in the 1st place would be a hundred thousand times better. Any minor redistribution of energy is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of fossil fuels it takes to power such a facility. And I can’t imagine that centre brings much in employment figures either. Consumer and corporate greed is the problem. But sure we can solve this by introducing more taxes paid for by Joe public.
@Kevin Gallagher: First step in reduced dependency in these data centers is to stop using the internet.
@Kevin Gallagher: without the Data Centres, you wouldn’t be able to have a moan about them here.
@Kevin Gallagher: That has to be the most ironic comment I’ve seen in a long time. On the Internet, giving out that there shouldn’t be an Internet.
@Mick paisley: you need to look at the bigger picture Mick. Why not locate these data centres in areas or countries that can power them using more sustainable sources like solar energy. That’s the beauty of the internet after all. Place them in a desert and you can connect from your bedroom. Locating them in a country that is so dependent on fossil fuels is just wrong. Furthermore would this land not have been better used for housing??
@Kevin Gallagher: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/amazon-to-build-wind-farm-in-galway-to-help-power-its-data-centres-1.4336901
I thought they were using the heat from a certain Lidl store to heat houses in Tallaght
Should supply schools & the hospital before homes
What about the rest of us. Freezing me hole off here.
@Earl of Daventry:
Turn on the heating then
All the big countries run socialist style ventures. However, they bang on about the need for capitalism so their companies can bleed us dry
In Denmark, three such data centres increased the electricity consumption by 11% and even with district heating it is not able to neutralize the effect. The question is how much will electricity consumption increase as a result of this centre, how many jobs will be created and how many homes will be heated by the excess heat?
@Alice Charles: as working in amazon data centre Tallaght I can tell u there is no heat which they can use in any way. So who ever come up with this plan they have other motive.
@Noshah Noshah: waste heat source area in orange color in above picture they build gas generator few months back but after planing objection from public they had to take it down whole generator area. So it’s look like what ever they purpose to build county council will agree with them.
It’s like county council work for them.
Brilliant idea shame they don’t have great working conditions their pay scale is not great either, funny though not much mention on cable channels in USA of the strikes in Germany or Italy
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