In the ruling, made three years after an application was first lodged in December 2022, Universal Developers LLC has secured planning permission for data centres with a combined power load of 73MW in the AWS campus on a 65-acre land holding at Cruiserath Road, Dublin 15.
Fingal Council had initially granted planning permission for the project in September 2023 but it was stalled after five third-party appeals were lodged with ACP.
In giving approval, the planning commission had regard to an existing grid connection to the Cruiserath site and the existing infrastructure within the site to supply the proposed development. It noted there is an existing agreement with Eirgrid to provide power to the development.
ACP also took into account the Large Energy Users Connection Policy decision paper recently published by the Commission for Energy Regulation.
Planning permission is conditional on the developer entering into a Corporate Purchase Power Agreement with a renewable energy provider prior to the operation of the data centre. The amount of electricity generated by the new renewable energy projects shall be equal to, or greater than, the electricity requirements of the data centres in operation at any given time.
The commission concluded that the proposal will not have an unacceptable impact on the environment or on property in the vicinity.
It found there is a potential for a negative climate impact, as a result of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation to power the data centre. However, subject to the implementation of mitigation measures, this would be minor-adverse and non-significant.
In a report for AWS, AWN Consulting stated that the estimated greenhouse gas emissions for the development range from 213,840 tonnes of CO2 this year to 132,164 tonnes of CO2 in 2030, which would then equate to 4.4pc of the Electricity Sector Emission ceiling.
The consultants stated that the greenhouse gas emissions for the overall data campus project at Cruiserath will be 262,535 CO2 tonnes in 2030, or 8.8pc of the 2030 Electoral Sectoral emission ceiling.
AWN Consulting stated that the assessment of the proposed development and overall project “has ensured that the proposed development and overall project is climate proofed”.
The ACP adopted the report and recommendations of its own inspector in the case.
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