County Offaly's data center prospect runs through Bord na Móna, the semi-state company founded in 1946 to develop Ireland's peatlands. In April 2024 Bord na Móna named Amazon Web Services as the first business to join its Eco Energy Park, subject to regulatory and planning consent. The park is a plan launched in 2021 to turn about 3,000 hectares of its land in Offaly, Westmeath and Meath into a business park where large energy users sit beside wind, solar and gas generation. The deal would create a pathway for AWS to develop data centres in the Midlands, according to the two companies, which did not give a number of buildings, a size or a timetable. AWS also signed a 105-megawatt power purchase agreement for Bord na Móna's Derrinlough wind farm, 21 turbines on two Boora bogs in west Offaly, and pledged up to 800 megawatts of new renewable projects in Ireland. "We can co-locate these large companies with our renewable energy assets to offer a sustainable pathway to grid capacity that is backed up with Flexible Technology power as required," said Bord na Móna chief executive Tom Donnellan.
The county had already been making its own case. In July 2023 Offaly County Council heard that a commissioned report had found Rhode, in north Offaly, suitable for a data centre. "One of our positives in Offaly," said Director of Services Sharon Kennedy, "is we have an excellent connection to the electric grid." Councillor Noel Cribbin said reports by EirGrid and Siemens pointed to north Offaly's renewable output from Edenderry Power, six wind farms and solar farms, and that big energy users should "be located where the green energy is being developed."
Friends of the Earth objected to the arrangement itself. "It is concerning to see an Irish semi-state body, Bord na Móna, put forward energy plans purely to generate power for data centres," said David Rossiter, its fossil free campaigner. The group argued that Derrinlough's output would be consumed by new Amazon demand instead of displacing fossil fuel, so that "we will effectively be running to stand still."
Projects not tied to an area
Sites whose records name no county. Everything else is on the pages listed above.
County Offaly1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Offaly Eco Energy ParkBord na Móna Eco Energy Park | Amazon Web Services | Proposed | Not reported |
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