Apple’s efforts to extend planning permission for a site where it once planned an €850 million data centre, has raised concerns about the tech giant’s ultimate aims for the site, and prompted fears that any new centre could cause environmental damage and severely impact electricity supply in the west.
Sinn Féin Galway East Representative, Louis O’Hara, said Apple needs to make it clear if the extension is because the company intends to build on the site at Derrydonnell, near Athenry, or if this in an attempt to retain value on the land.
Meanwhile, Galway People Before Profit representative Adrian Curran said data centres consume huge amounts of electricity and are a significant contributor to carbon emissions.
New application
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Last week, it emerged that Apple Operations Europe had applied to the Galway County Council, seeking a five-year extension on the Derrydonnell site, where it had proposed building a major data centre.
According to the application, the company plans to “support the provision” of the planned works at the Athenry site - which many interpret as seeking the construction of a data centre - between now and 2026.
Apple said it was “identifying interested parties” to meet the global growth in demand for data storage facilities, and that the proposed development would “strengthen Ireland’s data storage facilities while also providing significant and much needed investment and employment in County Galway and the western region as a whole”.
Apple was originally granted planning permission to build a data centre on a 490-acre plot of land near Athenry in 2015, which was expected to create 150 jobs. An appeal to An Bórd Pleanála by a small number of local residents was unsuccessful, with ABP confirming the local authority’s decision in 2016.
However, in 2018, the company seemed to have aborted its plans after three objectors sought a review of the decision through the courts. Despite this, Apple retained the planning permission.
Intentions
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The Galway County Council is expected to make a decision on this new application on August 8. While the renewed application will be welcomed by those wishing to see investment in Athenry, it will also promote concern among those who believe the environmental impact will outweigh and outlast the jobs created.
Although he welcomed the new application, SF’s Louis O’Hara [pictured above] said numerous questions remain regarding Apple’s ultimate intentions for the site.
"Has Apple applied for an extension because it intends to build or is it simply an attempt to retain value on the land, which still remains advertised as for sale?” he said. “Athenry, and communities across County Galway, are crying out for investment and this site shouldn't be left lying idle for any longer.”
Mr O’Hara said it was vital the Government ascertain Apple’s intentions for the site, adding that if Apple ultimately does not intend to build, the State should consider purchasing it back, thereby allowing bodies like the IDA to be proactive in identifying a suitable buyer.
Environmental impact
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Galway People Before Profit representative, Adrian Curran [pictured above], said Apple’s planning application was “bad news” in environmental terms. He cited research by the Irish Academy of Engineering, which estimates that data centre expansion in Ireland will require c€9 billion in added energy infrastructure by 2030, and add 13 per cent to the State’s carbon emissions by the end of the decade.
"With more than 70 data centres currently operating, and a 25 per cent increase in their expansion in Ireland in the last year alone, by 2030 these centres will consume 30 per cent of the State’s total electricity demand, swallowing half of any increase in renewable energy in the next decade,” he said.
He pointed to the fact that both Eirgrid and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities recently warned that Ireland faces 'rolling blackouts' unless action is taken on the growing numbers of data centres.
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“It is hypocritical that politicians who support carbon taxes on ordinary people are advocates for environmentally disastrous data centres and the corporate interests behind them,” he said. “We can’t both meet our commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement and allow more than 100 data centres in Ireland over the next decade.”
Regarding employment, he said the long-term benefits for Athenry were “doubtful”. “These vast warehouses do not provide plentiful or sustainable employment,” he said, “as they need limited maintenance, and they also create few secondary jobs.”
