아일랜드 규제 당국은 피크 수요 시 부하 감축에 응하는 데이터 센터에 할인된 천연가스 요금을 제공하기 위해 검토 중이다.

Ireland’s Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has proposed offering discounted gas connections to new data centers, contingent on their acceptance of planned supply interruptions during periods of peak national demand. First reported by the Irish Times, the regulator cautioned that rapid data center expansion could strain the country’s ability to secure sufficient gas during severe cold weather. CRU analysis indicates that 17 planned data centers seeking gas connections would consume an amount of fuel equivalent to six 500MW combined-cycle gas turbine power plants.

Under the proposed framework, participating facilities would receive a tariff discount in exchange for agreeing to curtailments when national gas demand reaches critical levels. During such periods, data centers would be required to temporarily power down, defer energy-intensive operations, or switch to alternative fuels, primarily on-site backup diesel generators. The precise magnitude of the discount remains undisclosed.

The CRU explicitly excluded power generators from the interruptible connection scheme, stating that extending it to them "would transfer an unacceptable level of security of supply risk from the gas system to the electricity system." In contrast, the regulator noted that data centers possess greater operational flexibility to absorb supply interruptions without compromising core functions.

The proposal has been formally submitted for public consultation and is currently under regulatory review.

This initiative follows the recent lifting of a moratorium on new data center electricity grid connections in the Dublin region, which was reinstated only after operators agreed to secure independent power supplies. In the interim, facilities are expected to rely on on-site gas generation until dedicated renewable infrastructure becomes available.

The proposal has drawn criticism from certain political figures. Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan characterized the plan as a series of "workarounds" designed to circumvent a direct moratorium on new data center gas connections.

Data centers remain among the largest consumers on Ireland’s national grid. According to reports published in July, they accounted for 23 percent of the country’s total metered electricity consumption in 2025. Central Statistics Office (CSO) data confirms that data centers drew 7,663GWh of power that year, representing a ten percent increase from the previous year’s total of 6,973GWh.

In January, the Irish government outlined strategies to facilitate the colocation of data centers with renewable energy infrastructure to bolster grid resilience. The policy directs future parks toward supporting the nation’s most energy-intensive industrial sectors post-2030, including data centers, with plan-led sites anticipated to reach capacities in the hundreds of megawatts.