Fact check · claim about Irish data centres
misleading"They run on 100% renewable energy."
Verdict: misleading. A data centre draws the same grid power as everyone else: 48% of Irish generation was gas in 2025 (about 40% of demand, with imports making up the rest); renewable claims rest on contracts (PPAs, certificates) that match annual totals on paper (Ember yearly electricity data, Oct 2026).
Checked against data built 10 October 2026 · how we check claims · corrections
The full explanation
A data centre draws the same grid power as everyone else: 48% of Irish generation was gas in 2025 (about 40% of demand, with imports making up the rest); renewable claims rest on contracts (PPAs, certificates) that match annual totals on paper. Data-centre buyers have announced ~1.9 GW of Irish PPAs (~1.8 GW of it Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google), about three-quarters for new wind and solar. Among colocation operators we found only Keppel DC REIT's small deals (~14 MW).
Sources
| Figure | Value | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas share of Irish generation, 2025 (wind 37.7%; net imports 16.4% of demand). | 47.9 % of Irish electricity generation | Ember yearly electricity data (our pipeline) | 2026-10-03 (pull) |
| Corporate PPAs announced by data-centre firms in Ireland (Microsoft 967, Meta 455, Amazon 334, unnamed tech buyer 81, Google 58, Keppel DC REIT 14; NI deals excluded). | 1,909 MW | Our ppa_supply pipeline (company press releases, curated) | 2026-10-03 |
Press claims on this, fact-checked
| Claim | Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Each MWh of data-centre load yields ~750 kWh of recoverable heat, used in Tallaght district heating. | can't be tested with public data | No public operating data from the Tallaght scheme lets us test the recovered-heat figure. The context slide has aged. '29% of demand by 2028' is EirGrid's 2019 forecast; the outturn was 23.2% in 2025. |
Each claim is tested as stated against public data; ratings: accurate, mostly accurate, misleading, wrong, or can't be tested with public data. Everything reported