The percentage share of electricity the data centres use has risen to 22pc, up one percentage point on 2023 but up from just 5pc a decade ago.
Such is the concern about the increasing share of power being used by data centres, which is projected to increase to 30pc, that Eirgrid has put restrictions on connecting them in the Dublin area. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has proposed that any new data centres looking for connections must have back-up generators of their own, or storage facilities, which can be used to supply the overall market.
Oonagh Buckley, the secretary general of the Department of the Environment, recently told a conference that given the constraints on the grid, policymakers face a choice between housing and AI/data centres. The same conference was told that up to 50pc of electricity generated in the Dublin area is being used by data centres.
The CSO says consumption by all other users, including residential and other business customers, increased by 3pc last year.
In 2024, urban households accounted for 18pc and rural households for 10pc of total metered electricity consumption. These percentages have changed from 22pc for urban dwellings in 2015, and 12pc for rural households.
Dr Grzegorz G?aczy?ski, a statistician in the Climate and Energy Division of the CSO, said: “Newly released data tracks metered electricity consumption by data centres on a quarterly basis from 2015 to 2024. Over this period it saw a significant rise, from 290 GWh in the first quarter of 2015 to 1,829 GWh in the final quarter of 2024.
“Large energy users, a category that typically includes larger data centres, made up the largest share at 31pc of total metered electricity consumption in 2024. Their consumption reached 9,897 GWh in 2024, a 9pc increase from the previous year.”
As data centres are not separately classified in the source data, the CSO uses a number of ways to identify them, including examining high-consumption electricity consumers to see what sector they are in.
Total metered electricity consumption was 31,900 GWh last year, a 4.3pc increase on the 2023. Median residential electricity consumption rose by 2.3pc, with all counties showing an increase. Donegal had the lowest median residential consumption at 2,650 kilowatt hours (kWh), while Kildare had the highest, at 3,845 kWh.
About one in 10 residential customers consumed less than 1,000 kWh last year, significantly less than the median.
The CSO also recorded a 10pc increase in the number of residential meters between 2015 and 2024. The highest increases were in counties close to Dublin – with Kildare and Meath both up by 19pc.
Metered electricity consumption by stand-alone?electric vehicles charge points rose by 43pc last year. There were 1.9 million residential customers with smart meters by the end of December, which is 83pc of all residential meters.
Last year the peak daily electricity consumption for very large users came between 1pm and 3pm, as in previous years. However, the peak period for metered electricity generation was usually later in the day, between 5pm and 7pm.
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