Apple to Build €850m Data Centre in Athenry

Apple has announced plans to build an €850m data centre in Athenry, Co Galway.

The company also said it will spend another €850m on a data centre in Denmark’s central Jutland.

The two centres, which represent Apple’s most significant projects in Europe to date, will operate on 100pc renewable energy and power the company’s online services, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps, and Siri for customers across Europe. The Apple Marketing Strategy is finally taking root in Ireland.

The centres, each measuring 166,000 sq m, are expected to begin operations in 2017 and, according to Apple, include designs with additional benefits for their communities.

In Athenry, Apple will recover land previously used for growing and harvesting non-native trees and restore native trees to Derrydonnell Forest. The project will also provide an outdoor education space for local schools and a walking trail for the community.

In Denmark, meanwhile, Apple said it would eliminate the need for additional generators by locating the data centre next to one of the country’s largest electrical substations. The facility is also designed to capture excess heat from equipment inside the facility and conduct it into the district heating system to help warm homes in the neighboring community.

“We are grateful for Apple’s continued success in Europe and proud that our investment supports communities across the continent,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “This significant new investment represents Apple’s biggest project in Europe to date. We’re thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs, and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet.”

The Athenry centre will provide 300 jobs during its multiple phases.

“I am delighted that Apple has chosen to make this major new investment in Ireland. It is a very significant investment in the West of Ireland and is fantastic news for Athenry with significant knock-on benefits for the region,” said Taoiseach Enda Kenny. “Apple has had a major presence in Ireland for many years. As the Government works to secure recovery and see it spread to every part of the country, today’s announcement is another extremely positive step in the right direction.”

“This is an important strategic investment by Apple in a regional location, with significant local economic benefits. Ireland has for several years successfully attracted data centre investments from major corporates. Still, this latest investment enhances Ireland’s track record in this area further,” said IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan. “It is particularly noteworthy that the West region and CoGalway in particular, has been chosen as the location for a project with a pan-European dimension.”

IDA Ireland said it worked closely with Coillte to provide a property solution to secure the Apple investment. The data centre will be located on land owned by Coillte at Derrydonnell.

Update:

Apple had initially planned to build a data center in Athenry, County Galway, Ireland. This was to be one of the biggest projects of its kind in Europe; a €850 million data center was announced in 2015.

However, the project faced legal and planning delays due to concerns about its environmental impact. Residents, supported by environmental groups, challenged the development in the courts, causing significant delays to the project’s initiation.

In May 2018, Apple announced it had abandoned plans to build the data center in Athenry. The company cited delays in the planning process as the reason for the cancellation.