Data centres revealed to consume whopping amount of Ireland’s electricity

New figures from the Central Statistics Office have revealed that the total share of metered electricity consumption used by the centers now accounts for nearly a quarter of Ireland’s usage.

The figures show that the metered consumption rose by 10% in a single year, surging from 6,973 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2024 to 7,663 GWh in 2025.

They also showed that the percentage share of total metered electricity consumption used by data centers rose to 23% last year, up from 5% in 2015.

Consumption by all other users, including residential and other business customers, went up by 2% over the same period.

Dr Grzegorz Glaczynski, a statistician in the climate and energy division, said: "Data center consumption has grown every single year without exception, more than doubling between 2015 and 2019 from 1,240 GWh to 2,490 GWh, and tripling again between 2019 and 2025, reaching 7,663 GWh."

The figures showed that total metered electricity consumption rose by 34% between 2015 and 2025.

Large Energy Users, which include significant data centers, accounted for the biggest overall share of total consumption at 33% last year, with their annual usage rising by 9% since 2024.

Including both urban and rural dwellings, total residential consumption of electricity accounted for 28% of usage, compared with 23% by data centers.

It has been estimated that the level of energy consumption by data centers will grow to almost a third of the national electricity demand by 2030.

In January, the government aimed to enable the further development of energy-intensive facilities, including data centers, with the publication of a Large Energy User Action Plan.

The plan came after an effective suspension on new data center connections was lifted.

The previous month, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities announced that the centers could be built if they met at least 80% of their annual energy demand through new renewable electricity sources.

A report published in May by Friends of the Earth suggested that electricity consumption by data centers may be resulting in higher energy costs for households.

It claimed that the average household may have paid an estimated €360 in additional electricity costs between 2015 and 2023 because of the intensity of data center presence on the grid.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.