Ireland · capacity market
Neither data-centre capacity-market unit due by now shows as energised
Data-centre-linked developers won 5 new-capacity awards worth 165 MW (de-rated) in Irish four-year-ahead auctions, plus 6.09 MW of existing capacity for one year to Microsoft Ireland Energy Ltd. 2 awards (55 MW) were due by 30 Sep 2026; neither appears on a published energised list (SEMO auction reports; EirGrid list of 5 Aug 2026; ESB Networks list of 1 Jul 2026; checked 11 Oct 2026).
Updated 11 October 2026 · data build 2026-10-10 · how we know · corrections
0 of 2 past-due units show as energised; 110 MW more falls due from 30 Sept 2027
Each new-capacity award has an implementation plan ending in a 'substantial completion' date. We set those dates against the grid operators' published lists. Reported
| Award | MW, due | Status | What the lists show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crag Digital Avoca Ltd GU_404840 · T-4 2025/26 · new, 10 yrs Avoca River Park, Arklow, Co. Wicklow | 5 MW due 30 Sept 2025 | past due energised: Unknown | No Crag, Avoca or Arklow-area row in ESB Networks' energised non-renewable list (correct 1 Jul 2026) or EirGrid's contracted non-wind list (correct 5 Aug 2026). |
| Crag Wicklow Ltd GU_405810 · T-4 2026/27 · new, 10 yrs North of Kish Business Park, Arklow, Co. Wicklow | 50 MW due 30 Sept 2026 | past due energised: Unknown | 'Kish (Crag Wicklow)', Oaklands 110 kV, TG562, processing route T-4 2026/27, Battery, 114.0 MW MEC, signed Mar 2024, on EirGrid's contracted (not yet connected) list, p. 6, correct 5 Aug 2026: eight weeks before its due date. |
| Data and Power Hub Services Ltd GU_404220 · T-4 2027/28 · new, 10 yrs Milltown / Peamount, near Newcastle, Co. Dublin | 50 MW due 30 Sept 2027 | not yet due energised: No (not due) | Possible match: 'Bulmer', Peamount 110 kV, TG611, route 'T- 2027/28', Gas, 50.0 MW, signed Oct 2024, on EirGrid's contracted list, p. 2, correct 5 Aug 2026. Same auction year, size, fuel and area, but the name differs and Data & Power Hub's 2020 pre-application (ACP VC06S.308439) proposed 110 kV cables to Castlebaggot, not Peamount. |
| Crag Digital Avoca Ltd DSU_404000 · T-4 2028/29 · new, 10 yrs Avoca River Park, Arklow, Co. Wicklow | 40 MW due 30 Sept 2028 | not yet due energised: No (not due) | Demand-side units do not appear on the generator connection lists, so these lists cannot show its delivery. |
| Crag Digital Avoca Ltd GU_404840 · T-4 2029/30 · new, 10 yrs Avoca River Park, Arklow, Co. Wicklow | 20 MW due 30 Sept 2029 | not yet due energised: No (not due) | First milestone (financial completion) is due 5 Nov 2027. |
| Microsoft Ireland Energy Ltd GU_406580 · T-1 2026/27 · existing, 1 yr not public | 6.09 MW no build date | existing energised: Existing unit | Awarded as existing capacity, so no implementation plan applies. Which unit it is, and where, is not public. |
Source: SEMO/EirGrid capacity auction reports (FCAR/PCAR) · EirGrid, Contracted TSO (Non-Wind) Generators (correct 5 Aug 2026) · ESB Networks, Distribution Energised Non-Renewable Generators Q2 2026 (DOC-300424-HXW) (correct 1 Jul 2026) · ESB Networks, Distribution Contracted Non-Renewable Generators Q2 2026 (DOC-300424-HXY) (correct 1 Jul 2026) · as of 2026-10-11 · Compiled by StackPath
"Unknown" means not on any published energised list we could read. It does not mean failed: lists lag, and a unit can connect under another name or behind a site's demand connection. ESB Networks' newest published lists were still Q2 2026 when we checked on 11 Oct 2026.
The timeline: two dates passed, three to come
De-rated MW per award, by the year its substantial-completion date falls (30 Sep each time). Reported
Source: SEMO/EirGrid capacity auction reports, implementation plans · as of 2026-10-11 · Compiled by StackPath
The Kish battery was still only contracted eight weeks before its date
Our pipeline re-searches every cached EirGrid and ESB Networks list for each unit's names, so a newer list shows up here when it is added. Reported
| Unit | List | Page | Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| GU_405810 (Crag Wicklow Ltd) | 2026-08-05_eirgrid-tso-contracted-non-wind | 6 | Oaklands 110 kV TG562 Kish (Crag Wicklow) T-4 2026/27 Battery 114.0 Mar 2024 |
| GU_404220 (Data and Power Hub Services Ltd) | 2026-08-05_eirgrid-tso-contracted-non-wind | 2 | Peamount 110 kV TG611 Bulmer T- 2027/28 Gas 50.0 Oct 2024 |
Lists searched: 2026-07-01_esbn-dso-contracted-non-renewable-q2-2026.txt, 2026-07-01_esbn-dso-energised-non-renewable-q2-2026.txt, 2026-08-05_eirgrid-tso-contracted-non-wind.txt. Crag Digital Avoca's units match nothing: no Crag, Avoca or Arklow-area row in either list. Demand-side units such as DSU_404000 never appear on generator lists.
Source: EirGrid, Contracted TSO (Non-Wind) Generators · ESB Networks, Distribution Energised Non-Renewable Generators Q2 2026 (DOC-300424-HXW) · ESB Networks, Distribution Contracted Non-Renewable Generators Q2 2026 (DOC-300424-HXY) · as of 2026-10-11 · Compiled by StackPath
Other rows near data-centre sites, links unchecked
Rows on the same lists that may bear on data-centre power. Owners are not named on the lists, so each link is by place only. Reported
| Name on the list | What | Our reading |
|---|---|---|
| Pollahoney Autoproducer Arklow 220 kV, D40d | 288.0 MW, processing route 'Demand', signed Nov 2024 | An autoproducer generates mainly for its own use. It is the largest Arklow row; whether it is Echelon's Arklow plant is unchecked. |
| Bulmer Peamount 110 kV, TG611 | 50.0 MW gas, route 'T- 2027/28', signed Oct 2024 | Same auction year, size, fuel and area as Data and Power Hub's award; link unchecked. |
| Ballymakaily RICE Grange Castle 110 kV station | 115.2 MW reciprocating engines, energised 31 Mar 2025 | Ballymakaily is also the townland of the EdgeConneX Newcastle Road campus, whose documents give a different substation (Kishoge). Link unchecked. |
| Eastmont DC 1 Castleview 110 kV station | 9.99 MW natural gas, contracted | The name suggests a data centre; not in our planning data yet. |
Source: EirGrid, Contracted TSO (Non-Wind) Generators · ESB Networks, Distribution Energised Non-Renewable Generators Q2 2026 (DOC-300424-HXW) · ESB Networks, Distribution Contracted Non-Renewable Generators Q2 2026 (DOC-300424-HXY) · as of 2026-10-11 · Compiled by StackPath
Why it matters: the CRU rule sends data-centre generation into this market
The CRU's December 2025 decision (CRU/2025236) asks each new data centre to bring dispatchable generation or storage matching its import capacity, trading in the wholesale market. The capacity auctions are where that kind of plant is paid to exist. So far the data-centre entry is small: 165 MW de-rated across 5 awards to 3 developers, each around 1% of its auction or less (issue 01; our arithmetic), against about 500 MW of firm power still to find in the firm-power gap table. And the one data-centre unit clearly visible in the connection queue is a battery, not gas.
Source: CRU/2025236 · as of 2025-12-12 · Compiled by StackPath
Method and definitions
- Awards come from SEMO/EirGrid's final (or provisional, where final results were unchanged) capacity auction reports, PDF pages as cited in each row. We searched eight reports (T-4 2025/26 to 2029/30; T-1 2024/25 to 2026/27) for every data-centre operator and applicant in our planning data (issue 01, 7–9 Oct 2026).
- De-rated MW is what the auction pays for: nameplate capacity scaled down for expected availability. MEC (maximum export capacity) on a connection list is a different measure, so the two are not compared.
- Substantial completion is the last milestone in a new unit's implementation plan; each row's date is from its auction report. Contracted on a list means a signed connection agreement, not yet connected; energised means connected.
- Energised? Yes only if a published list shows it; Unknown when no list does; No for units not yet due; Existing for capacity the auction classes as already built.
- An award is a contract to deliver capacity, not delivery. A missing termination notice does not mean a unit was built.
- The published lists lag (ESB quarterly; EirGrid every few months), and a unit can be connected under another name or behind a site's demand connection.
- Data-centre links are by planning applicant, licence or company name; a shared owner across the Crag companies is unchecked.
- Demand-side units do not appear on generator connection lists, so their delivery cannot be checked this way.
Our reading. The model the CRU rule relies on, data-centre generation paid through the capacity market, is barely tested: two small awards have reached their dates, and neither is visibly connected. This is slippage risk, not failure. The next EirGrid and ESB Networks lists will show whether the Kish battery connected.
Questions people ask
- Have data-centre developers won Irish capacity-market contracts?
- Yes, a few. Three developers linked to data-centre sites (Crag Digital Avoca and Crag Wicklow in Arklow, and Data and Power Hub at Peamount) won 5 new-capacity awards worth 165 MW de-rated in four-year-ahead auctions, and Microsoft Ireland Energy Ltd won 6.09 MW of existing capacity for one year (T-1 2026/27). Source: SEMO/EirGrid auction reports.
- Is a capacity-market award the same as a power plant being built?
- No. An award is a contract to deliver capacity by a set date, with milestones on the way. Delivery shows up when the unit appears as energised on EirGrid's or ESB Networks' connection lists, or in SEMO's records. A missing termination notice does not show a unit was built.
- Is the Crag Wicklow (Kish) battery connected?
- Not as of EirGrid's list of 5 Aug 2026, which shows 'Kish (Crag Wicklow)', a 114 MW battery at Oaklands 110 kV, as contracted, not connected. Its 50 MW de-rated award was due by 30 Sep 2026. Whether it connected by then is unknown until the next list.
- What is the Microsoft Ireland Energy capacity-market unit?
- Not public. SEMO's T-1 2026/27 report lists GU_406580, 6.09 MW of existing capacity for one year, with no site or technology; per-unit qualification results are visible only to the registered participant.
- Why does this matter for the CRU's data-centre rule?
- The CRU's December 2025 decision asks new data centres to bring dispatchable generation or storage that trades in the wholesale market. The capacity market is where such plant is contracted, so whether data-centre-linked units get built is an early test of the rule's model.