Data Centre investment to supercede €10bn by 2022

Ireland will see inward investment from data centres top €10 billion by 2022, according to the latest industry update report from Host In Ireland in association with Bitpower.

Inward investment from data centres has tripled over the past four years bringing the ever-growing average annual spend to €1.3bn each year. The new report reveals the sector will have brought over €10bn in investment by 2022, underpinning more than 100,000 jobs in the ICT sector.

The Q.1 report also highlights the positive impact investment in data centre infrastructure has brought to Ireland in assisting it in attracting leading tech companies here. Speaking at the launch of the Q.1 report, Garry Connolly, CEO of Host In Ireland said:

“The enormity of this investment has been transformational for Ireland over the past 10 years. The ICT sector in Ireland now supports more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. Our ability to provide the data infrastructure required by some of the largest companies in the world has meant that computer service related exports now top €69.3bn making it the largest export sector in the economy beating pharmaceuticals and the agrifood sector.”  

The report adds that the increased levels of investment is expected to continue as demand for ICT services and data surges globally.

Connolly added:

“The ability to send, receive and store vast amounts of information as quickly and efficiently as possible all being energised by green/renewable sources is key to Ireland retaining its competitive advantage in the tech industry. The demand for data globally only continues to grow and investment will continue so far as that trend lasts.”

Figures from construction consultants Mitchell McDermott reveal over half of the spend in data centre construction over the past twelve months was spent on equipment used to provide power and cooling, with one fifth spent on creating the building shell and architectural services.

Commenting on the typical spending breakdown of data centre construction investment, Anthony McDermott, Director of Mitchell McDermott said:

“We find that typically 55% of spend in the sector is on equipment including generators and other large items such as air conditioning units. A further 20% is spent on civil, structural and architectural services, 15% is spent on mechanical, electrical and plumbing services and 10% on preliminary construction costs.”

There are now 53 active data centres in Ireland with 29 currently in development. 16 new data halls came online in 2018.  

Dublin, currently Europe’s largest data centre market, is now home to 4 of the leading 5 Hyperscales active in the European market including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook.

Host in Ireland

Host in Ireland was established in 2014 as an industry-led initiative to promote Ireland as an optimum location to host data. They work to inform global decision makers within the technology and data industries about Ireland’s data hosting calibre and capabilities.

Led by Garry Connolly, President and Founder of Host in Ireland, the organisation consists of 22 data hosting partners that collaborate to promote Ireland as the data hosting centre of Europe.  Host in Ireland’s Executive Committee consists of 22 C-level executives from Host in Ireland’s partner companies including Equinix, Interxion, Siemens and Schneider Electric.