The threat of energy blackouts continues to loom large in Ireland, despite the Department of the Environment insisting that it is taking sufficient steps to avoid rolling blackouts this winter.
Energy engineering experts have warned that Ireland’s electricity grid is facing the increased prospect of blackouts this winter as data centre demands increase and the country tries to reduce its emissions.
While the amount of renewable energy used in the country has increased, there has also been an increased demand for electricity in places such as data centres, electrical vehicles and heat pumps, with data centres being particularly worrying due to the electrical demands that they place on the grid.
“There is now a greater impetus to really reduce emissions across all of the sectors of the economy and transport, heating, agriculture,” Brian Ó Gallachóir, professor of energy engineering at University College Cork, said. “The key challenge in electricity is doing that and at the same time ensuring that we have sufficient energy to keep the lights on and power things we need to go about our daily lives.”
