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Helping to bring data centre awareness to Kildare through community, education and grassroots action

Who We Are. What We Stand For.

Data Centre Awareness Kildare is a community grassroots movement made up of residents across Kildare who are concerned with the approved and planned Data Centres in Naas Co. Kildare as well the current number of data centres currently in Ireland.

107 Data centres
in Ireland

9

facilities are under construction

43

additional facilities have planning approval

There are currently 107 data centres in Ireland, 9 facilities are under construction and 43 additional facilities have planning approval

When compared to the European Union average, Ireland’s data centre presence is exceptionally disproportionate per capita density as Ireland has 10 times more data centres per capita than the EU average.

Electricity consumption for data centres consume roughly 22% to 23% of Ireland’s total electricity. Across the rest of the EU, data centres consume an average of only 2.7% to 3.2% of national grids.

Ireland leads globally in grid impact relative to its size, consuming over 22% of its total electricity, compared to the next highest country the Netherlands at 5% or Singapore at roughly 7%.

Our Main Goal.

Support a national call for a moratorium on new Data Centres in Kildare and Ireland.

Why We Were Formed

When plans were originally approved in the county council in 2021 to zone land for three large scale data centres, many locals were unaware of the potential environmental, infrastructural and community impact that could arise from large scale data centre development not to mention communities recovering from Covid-19.

Data centres were not to the forefront of people’s minds.

Now in 2026………..

Our Concerns:

Electricity demand

and the capacity of the national and local grid to support further large-scale development.

Data centres place enormous pressure on electricity supplies and are among the fastest-growing consumers of electricity. As demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing increases, their energy use continues to rise rapidly.

This can:

Increase pressure on national electricity grids.
Require expensive upgrades to energy infrastructure.
Compete with households and local businesses for available electricity.

One study from the CRO reported a dramatic increases in electricity consumption by data centres in recent years, highlighting the percentage share of total metered electricity consumption used by data centres rose to 23% in 2025 from 5% in 2015 highlighting how quickly demand is growing.

Commenting on the release Dr Grzegorz Głaczyński, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: “Newly compiled quarterly figures spanning 2015 to 2025 highlight a substantial increase in metered electricity consumption by data centres. Over this period, data centre consumption saw a significant increase, from 291 GWh in the first quarter of 2015 to 1,991 GWh in Q4 2025, growing by 584%. (07 July 2026)

Reference: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-dcmec/datacentresmeteredelectricityconsumption2025/keyfindings/

A new report from Friends of the Earth Ireland reveals the real cost borne by ordinary people in Ireland due to data centres’ rapid expansion in the country.

Households in Ireland paid an estimated €715 million more in electricity bills between 2015 and 2023 due to the rapid expansion of data centres in the country, the new report reveals. The average household may have paid an estimated €360 in additional electricity costs between 2015-2023 due to the intensity of data centre presence on the Irish Single Electricity Market (ISEM) grid putting upward pressure on prices. Cumulatively for all Irish households, this data centre price effect was as high as €715 million.

Unless Government policy changes, the cost on households could intensify dramatically between 2025 and 2034, with households set to face an additional €1.43 billion in electricity bills linked to data centre growth.

Water Consumption

and the potential pressure placed on local water resources and the environment.

Data centres have been reported to consume vast quantities of water as many data centres rely on water cooling systems to keep servers operating safely. This means they can use millions of litres of water each day, particularly during warm weather.

At a time when residents are encouraged to conserve water through restrictions such as the latest Hosepipe ban in Ireland and public campaigns, communities may question whether large industrial water users should face stronger limits as well.

Recent investigations and data from Uisce Éireann show that 57 tracked data centre campuses in Ireland consume an average of nearly 5 million litres of public water daily. While usage has grown year-on-year approaching 1 billion litres annually for top facilities.

It’s important to note here that those figures are not substantiated, and that many if not most data centres are not even metered. Meta themselves disclosed usage of 800,000,000 litres last year. That’s just one data centre.

Environmental impacts

including emissions, land use, biodiversity and the wider sustainability of large-scale data centre development.

Environmental impacts extend beyond energy use. Building and operating hyperscale data centres can:

Increase carbon emissions if powered by fossil fuels.
Local communities suffer from continuous air and noise pollution from diesel backup generator emissions and heavy industrial cooling noise.
Generate construction impacts including noise, traffic, and habitat disruption.
Light pollution resulting from bright floodlights and high-intensity security lighting.
Potential data centre sites may include agricultural land, woodland, hedgerows, wetlands, and other natural areas that provide important environmental benefits. These areas support biodiversity, help manage rainfall naturally, improve air quality, and provide habitats for wildlife.
Loss of green spaces and natural drainage areas can reduce the ability of the landscape to absorb rainfall and may contribute to increased surface water pressures during periods of heavy rainfall and permanently removes local feeding and nesting grounds for animals.
In the US there are reports of vanishing wildlife, cattle that won’t breed, discoloured water and rising bills.
Scientists believe that residents living near ai data centres are experiencing health problems that may be linked such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, chronic sleep disruption, anxiety and high blood pressure.

Pressure on local infrastructure and services

including roads, utilities and other essential infrastructure.

Large-scale data centre developments can place significant additional pressure on local infrastructure and public services. Hyperscale facilities are major industrial developments that require substantial electricity connections, water supplies, telecommunications infrastructure, road access and other supporting services. This can increase pressure on already-constrained local road networks, particularly during construction when large numbers of workers, heavy goods vehicles and construction equipment are required.

These impacts are particularly important in areas such as Naas, where significant land has been identified for potential data centre development while the wider county is experiencing substantial housing need.

According to the Kildare County Council there are 3,974 households are registered on the social housing waiting list. This raises a legitimate question about whether land and infrastructure capacity should be prioritised for large scale data centre development at a time there is an urgent need to deliver housing and community infrastructure.

Long-term impacts on Kildare communities

particularly where development takes place without adequate consideration of cumulative impacts.

The impacts of large-scale data centre development can continue long after construction has finished. Take for example the Echelon Data Centre in Clondalkin residents have voiced their frustration and concern regarding the constant “highly intrusive noise” emitted from a data centre in Clondalkin Industrial Estate at Crag Terrace/Crag Avenue, as well as reports of black smoke billowing from the facility. The Echelon Data Centre facility is located close to residential areas, with one resident in particular, who spoke with local councillors, residing less than 500 metres from the facility.

Individual planning applications may appear manageable when considered separately, but the cumulative effect of multiple facilities can be considerably greater. Take the recent Microsoft proposal for P2 in Naas in its proposal it states:

‘This site earmarked for development was zoned exclusively for data centre development by Kildare County Council in the Naas Local Area Plan 2021-2027. This means the Council has identified it as suitable for a data centre and the land cannot be used for any other kind of development.’

Stating the ‘land cannot be used for any other kind of development’ is unbelievable. The Council has chosen to zone the land specifically for data centre development, effectively prioritising that use over other potential uses of the land amid a housing crisis.

It is quite difficult to wrap your head around understanding why land should be regarded as suitable for one of the most infrastructure-intensive forms of development while being effectively excluded from consideration for other uses. This site is right next to residential housing. If the land is suitable for a major data centre requiring substantial electricity, water, road access and other infrastructure the Council should be able to clearly explain why alternative uses, including housing, were ruled out. Maybe this information is available and we call on the county council to provide this.

Take a look at the size of the land zoned for the Microsoft data centre it looks massive and grotesque compared to the size of the town.

The blue/green area is not a small industrial site tucked into Naas. It is a very substantial landholding immediately adjacent to the town’s built-up area.

(The Herbata data centre has been paused due to formal planning appeals to review several critical factors such as climate and grid strain and environmental impact flaws.

The P2 (Jigginstown) site designated for data centre development in Naas, County Kildare, spans approximately 54.55 hectares (about 134.8 acres). It is larger than the neighbouring P1 site which has been approved through planning, though formal active construction proposals or applications specific to P2 remain distinct from the approved P1 (Herbata) campus.

Kildare County Council has specifically reserved this land for data-centre development, stating that the lands are ‘identified exclusively for Data Centres’. The question therefore arises as to why such a substantial area of land adjoining Naas has been prioritised exclusively for data centres, particularly when the town and wider county face significant housing and infrastructure needs and very close to residential housing.

Transparency and public participation,

ensuring that local people have access to information and a meaningful opportunity to have their voices heard.

Large-scale data centre developments can have significant and long-lasting consequences for local communities in Kildare. For this reason, Kildare residents should have access to clear, timely and comprehensive information about proposed developments and their potential cumulative impacts.

Meaningful public participation requires more than simply allowing residents to submit objections to individual planning applications. Communities should be able to understand how individual proposals fit into the wider development strategy for the area and what their combined implications may be. The county council ran the consultation ran from 9 March 2021 to 21 April 2021. What were you doing that timeframe? Recovering from the trama of Covid-19? saying that, Kildare County Council did carry out the statutory public consultation process for the Naas Local Area Plan, the existence of a consultation does not necessarily mean that the implications of the proposed zoning were effectively communicated to the wider community. There was an ad in the Leinster Leader though…….yay!

According to the Chief Executive’s report:

Chief Executive’s Recommendation Proposed Material Alteration: This Plan promotes Naas as a sustainable international destination for ICT infrastructures such as data centres, in line with Regional Policy Objective 8.25. Two locations have been zoned for Data Centre/Warehouse locations within this Plan. Land has been designated between Junction 10 and Junction 9a, located centrally between two of the motorway junctions.

The site will be served by the local road network which would disperse traffic between motorway interchanges to reduce any impacts on the motorway network. Another site has been selected to the southwest of the town. Naas has been chosen as a suitable location for data centre development in recognition of its status as a Key Town. The sites identified in this LAP have the ability to cater for space extensive enterprises contiguous to the existing urban form, proximate to electricity and telecommunication infrastructure. These lands are identified exclusively for Data Centres, to ensure the location of these types of proposals are controlled proximate to serviced areas of the county.

The Council will not consider any alternative use on these lands, other than those associated with Data Centres (Objective EDO 1.12).

The report raised concerns:

Various submissions raised their concerns with regards to the identified sites for data centres. The concerns raised includes:

Data centres provides very limited employment opportunities and their location in town is inappropriate.
The Jigginstown site would render land close to the town centre useless for future development and public amenities.
The benefit of data centres to Naas is questionable as they guzzle electricity and deplete grid infrastructure. Electricity supply continuity will need to be ensured and the costs of repairing the electricity grid should not fall on the taxpayer or bill payer.

One of the submissions proposed more suitable locations for data centres at the link road between Naas and Newbridge or Newhall.

Our Call

We are calling for a moratorium on new data centre developments in Kildare and Ireland until adequate water and electricity infrastructure is in place, alongside proper assessment of the cumulative impact of existing and proposed developments.

We believe that infrastructure and community impact should come first. Kildare is a growing county with its own housing, environmental, energy and infrastructure needs. Decisions made today will shape the county for decades to come, and we believe those decisions should be made responsibly, transparently and with the interests of local communities at their heart.

Our goal is to inform, engage and empower the people of Kildare and to ensure that our communities have a voice in the future of data centre development.

Our land. Our resources. Our future. Our voice

Community Presentation 3rd September

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