Environmentalists call on Kildare County Council to refuse planning for €3bn data centre

Gordon Deegan

Friends of the Earth Ireland, An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) have called on Kildare County Council to refuse planning permission to a €3 billion data centre due to the increased greenhouse gas emissions it will produce.

In August last year, Robert Moffett’s Herbata Ltd lodged plans for a data centre campus on a site next to the M7 motorway and business park at Naas, Co Kildare.

Mr Moffett is a multimillionaire engineering entrepreneur and co-owner of Monaghan-based forklift manufacturer Combilift.

Last October, the council stalled the plan after saying the projected CO2 emissions from the data centre campus would make up 49.35 per cent of the "sectoral emissions ceiling" for the entire commercial built environment sector to 2030.

The council said the level of emissions was “excessive” for one development.

In June, Herbata lodged extensive further information on the scheme in response to the council's concerns, pointing out that the data centre will not be reliant upon the existing electricity generation and will get 50 per cent of its power from renewables.

Consultants for the applicants, RPS, said the use of Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT) would result in a reduction of 552,000 tonnes in greenhouse gas emissions.

However, in new submissions ahead of a council planning decision this week, Friends of the Earth Ireland, An Taisce and FIE called on the council to reject the plan, while County Kildare Chamber urged the planning authority to grant permission.

FIE director Tony Lowes said his organisation strongly opposed the proposed development of six gas-powered data centres due to their projected high greenhouse gas emissions and incompatibility with Ireland's climate obligations.

He said the development "could emit nearly one million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year. Over five years, this would account for almost a quarter of Ireland's electricity sector carbon budget—posing a major adverse impact on national emissions targets”.

Mr Lowes added that “the mitigation measures proposed, such as Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs), the potential use of biomethane or hydrogen, and future district heating, are either mismatched, unreliable, unproven, or dependent on fossil fuels”.

Friends of the Earth Ireland campaigns director Jerry Mac Evilly said the “the central message of this submission is that the applicant has not clearly or sufficiently addressed significant emissions impacts of the six gas-powered data centres. We therefore call for the application to be rejected”.

He said the “the proposed data centre’s extremely high associated emissions directly conflict with legal obligations to reduce emissions under the 2021 Climate Act and would undermine national decarbonisation efforts”.

An Taisce senior planning and environmental policy officer Phoebe Duvall told the council that to grant permission “would be in contravention of Ireland’s legally binding emissions reduction obligations and contrary to the national climate objective”.

County Kildare Chamber chief executive Sinead Ronan told the council that “this project represents a significant and timely investment in Naas and the wider Kildare region, delivering multiple economic, environmental and infrastructural benefits”.

Ms Ronan said “the revised proposals submitted in response to the request for further information highlight several key enhancements”.

She said: “Notably, the data centre will not draw power from the national grid. Instead, only a minimum of 50pc of its energy demand will be met through on-site solar PV generation or renewable energy sourced via Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs)".

Ms Ronan said that “this proposal presents a forward-looking opportunity to enhance the local economy, support employment and position Kildare as a leader in sustainable digital infrastructure.

“The project also has a clear alignment to planning policy, climate goals and heritage protection”.