Review body requests more info before approving Apple's Irish data center

A planning organization backed by the Irish government — An Bord PleanÃ¡la — is reportedly asking Apple to provide more information about a number of issues before it approves the construction of a data center near the small town of Athenry.

A letter sent by an An Bord PleanÃ¡la executive to Arup Consulting Engineers, the firm managing the datacenter project, requested information in five specific areas, according to Business Insider. One of these is the choice of location.

"The proposed development is located in an unserviced rural area on lands outside of any settlement and which are not the subject of any specific development objective. It is considered that the applicant has not adequately addressed the issue of site location and the alternatives considered prior to selecting the proposed site," one section of the letter reads.

Apple and Arup have also allegedly provided no specifc data on renewable energy projects, and are being asked to revise an Environmental Impact Statement to address a power substation, all eight possible data halls instead of just the first, and the potential absence of "viable direct sustainable energy sources."

The letter also mentions previously-known concerns about wildlife, asking for the results of earlier ecological surveys and news on surveys to come. Lastly, Apple and Arup expected to submit data on soil, bedrock, and the local water table.

Although local government officials greenlit the data center in September, environmental activists appealed, putting the project on pause. An Bord PleanÃ¡la was brought in for an independent review, and was originally expected to make a decision this month but might not do so until May.

Apple and Arup have until March 7 to provide the additional information. Apple may be especially interested in accelerating the process, as the company has no native data centers in Europe, although an upcoming sister complex in Denmark could potentially serve as a stopgap.

18 Comments

williamh 1045 comments · 13 Years

About 8 years ago

Is it really worth the trouble to do business in Ireland? How many zillions will they pay in back taxes as a result of their current operations in the country?

512ke 781 comments · 19 Years

I think the question is, is it worth it to Apple, to keep building infrastructure and investing in Europe?

It seems like the answer is, no. Europe doesn't want Apple.

cnocbui 3612 comments · 17 Years

512ke said:

I think the question is, is it worth it to Apple, to keep building infrastructure and investing in Europe?

It seems like the answer is, no. Europe doesn't want Apple.

Apple makes 18% of it's revenue from Europe. How do you conclude that 'Europe doesn't want Apple'?

I can assure you that the wretched An Bord Pleanála is as much a thorn in the side of anyone who want's to do anything in this country. They even scuppered plans for a national children's hospital a few years ago. They are a bunch of Luddites that the Irish government doesn't seem to have the balls to question or overhaul.

That said, I would be interested to know why they want to plonk such a facility in basically the middle of farm land where there is literaly nothing nearby except a motorway, some cows, sheep and the odd farmhouse. I'm sure there is a good reason, just wondering what it is.

bobschlob 1074 comments · 11 Years

Really confusing.
Those "five specific areas" of questions are so 'basic', I don't understand how the project could even have gotten to preliminary consideration without that stuff being addressed.
I mean, Ireland 'ain't China...

jfc1138 3090 comments · 12 Years

cnocbui said:

512ke said:

I think the question is, is it worth it to Apple, to keep building infrastructure and investing in Europe?

It seems like the answer is, no. Europe doesn't want Apple.

Apple makes 18% of it's revenue from Europe. How do you conclude that 'Europe doesn't want Apple'?

I can assure you that the wretched An Bord Pleanála is as much a thorn in the side of anyone who want's to do anything in this country. They even scuppered plans for a national children's hospital a few years ago. They are a bunch of Luddites that the Irish government doesn't seem to have the balls to question or overhaul.

That said, I would be interested to know why they want to plonk such a facility in basically the middle of farm land where there is literaly nothing nearby except a motorway, some cows, sheep and the odd farmhouse. I'm sure there is a good reason, just wondering what it is.

A marginal cow pasture makes for an inexpensive construction area purchase? And as data centers, once built, are not very labor intensive there's no need for a lot of local employee resources. IIRC the data center locales in the states are all in the undeveloped "boonies". But they tend to be sprawling and so requite a lot of land, so if that land can be cheap... why not? Possibly even mores if the "green" aspect means it's going to largely rely on onsite power generation....

"How big is Apple’s new iDataCenter in Maiden, North Carolina? It’s plenty big, as illustrated by this aerial video posted to YouTube (apparently taken by an area realtor) of the 500,000 square foot facility. "

That center is built on 255 acres. Also the climate, cool, is noted to be inherently suitable for a data center as much of the cooling of the facility can be accomplished simply by pumping in the outside air, a significant cost savings since these centers need to be temperature controlled and being huge that's a power issue.