Peak electricity demand from data centres would exceed that of all other electricity users in Ireland. This dynamic is also visible in a trend internationally for “off-grid” data centres whose massive scale is difficult to convey. In West Virginia, for example, Monarch Compute Campus is planning an 8GW “microgrid”, entirely fuelled by fossil gas. Claims that fossil gas can later be replaced with biomethane or hydrogen also do not resolve this problem. Instead, the current policy embeds fossil gas at the heart of the sector’s expansion.

Source: The Irish Times April 02, 2026 15:37 UTC