Fact check · claim about Irish data centres
unknown"Irish data centres are mostly running AI."
Verdict: unknown. No public body publishes what the computing in Irish data centres is for; operators report energy to a confidential EU database. The big sites were built mainly for cloud and social media, and AI racks (about 130 kW each) draw far more power, but the AI share of 7.7 TWh is unknown (Dáil written answer, Apr 2026).
Checked against data built 10 October 2026 · how we check claims · corrections
The full explanation
No Irish body publishes what the computing in Irish data centres is for, and operators report energy to a confidential EU database. Ireland's sites were built mainly for cloud and social media before the AI boom; AI racks (~130 kW each) draw far more per rack, but we can't say what share of 7.7 TWh is AI.
Sources
| Figure | Value | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| HPE's GB200 NVL72 rack: 132 kW (115 kW liquid-cooled, 17 kW air); NVIDIA's nominal ~120 kW. ~1.7-1.8 kW per GPU at rack level. | 132 kW per rack (72 Blackwell GPUs) | HPE product page 'NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 by HPE' | 2025 |
Also: water statements eed_confidential (data/raw/water/extracted.json)