{"id":377953,"date":"2026-04-02T08:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377953\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T08:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:12:08","slug":"fear-of-electricity-blackouts-in-ireland-prompts-new-protocols-for-data-centres-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377953\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear of electricity blackouts in Ireland prompts new protocols for data centres \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fear of electricity blackouts has prompted Irish authorities to set down new protocols for data centre operators<\/a>. <\/p>\n

EirGrid, the national grid operator<\/a>, has identified a \u201crisk to grid stability\u201d from data centre behaviour and is asking the sector to comply with new practices to safeguard power supply.<\/p>\n

Under a new code, data centres <\/a>would be required to remain connected to the grid during the millisecond-long faults that sometimes arise on the electricity system. <\/p>\n

Ordinarily, they disconnect instantly and run on their own backup power supply. <\/p>\n

But EirGrid says the sudden simultaneous disconnection of a sector that accounts for 22 per cent of all electricity used in the State risks destabilising the entire grid. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0An issue of low-energy use: Why data centres are linked to fears of electricity blackoutsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWorst-case scenario, it could be a blackout on the system,\u201d said Liam Ryan, EirGrid\u2019s chief transformation, technology and offshore officer. \u201cWe are not going to let that happen.\u201d <\/p>\n

EirGrid has been managing the risk to date. But with data centre expansion forecast to increase the sector\u2019s electricity demand to 30 per cent in the next five years<\/a>, the risk could increase without the code. <\/p>\n

The same issue has been flagged in countries worldwide where data centres are expanding and increasing their demand for power. <\/p>\n

EirGrid advised Ministers of the issue in an information note brought to Cabinet on Wednesday. It told the Cabinet it \u201chas implemented and will continue to implement a range of operational protective measures to manage this issue\u201d. <\/p>\n

But it added: \u201cWe forecast that these measures may soon become exhausted unless further action is taken.\u201d <\/p>\n

It indicated an intention to send the proposed code to the energy regulator, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, which needs to issue it as a formal direction for it to become mandatory. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is critical that this modification and associated compliance and derogation framework are put in place in a timely manner,\u201d said EirGrid. <\/p>\n

Ireland has seen a sharp increase in the amount of data centres in operation in recent years, but are they necessary for economic growth? Video: Enda O’Dowd <\/p>\n

The derogation would run for two years, after which all data centres \u2013 and other large energy users such as big manufacturing plants \u2013 would have to comply. <\/p>\n

Remaining connected to the grid during glitches and incidents that can cause fleeting interruptions in supply is called \u201cfault ride through\u201d (FRT). <\/p>\n

\u201cBased on industry feedback, there will initially be an inability from most LEUs [large energy users] to comply with the proposed FRT requirements,\u201d said EirGrid. <\/p>\n

Ryan said EirGrid had been working with the sector for several years on the problem and would continue to help them comply with the code. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019d prefer if we weren\u2019t doing this because they now have to make changes to their systems,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut from our engagements with them, they understand the importance of a secure, reliable system both for themselves and for other users.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fear of electricity blackouts has prompted Irish authorities to set down new protocols for data centre operators. EirGrid,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5691,27796,895,3775,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-377953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-data-centres","9":"tag-eirgrid","10":"tag-fianna-fail","11":"tag-fine-gael","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}