On the outskirts of Dublin, dozens of massive data centres are chewing through more electricity than all the urban homes in Ireland. It has long been home to the continental headquarters of industry giants such as Google, Meta, Apple and Microsoft. It now also has one of the largest data centre clusters in the world, with more than 120 dotted around Dublin and the surrounding countryside. Likewise, Australia has emerged as one of the world's premier destinations for data centre development and investment.
USSC Research Associate Johanna Lim spoke with ABC News, saying that while Australia was not on the same trajectory as Ireland, bringing enough renewable energy generation and storage to offset data centre demand should be part of federal government policy.