Ireland’s datacentres overtake electricity use of all urban homes combined

Datacentres supporting tech hubs used 21% of Ireland’s electricity last year, an increase 20% on 2022 – all homes used 18%. Photograph: Erik Isakson/Getty Images/Tetra images RF

Ireland’s energy-hungry datacentres consumed more electricity last year than all of its urban homes combined, according to official figures.

The country’s growing fleet of datacentres used 21% of its electricity, an increase of a fifth on 2022, according to the Central Statistics Office.