DUBLIN — The grid operator for Ireland has stopped accepting new connection requests from data centers in the Dublin area until 2030. The Netherlands has imposed a similar pause around Amsterdam. Frankfurt is debating one.
The reason is arithmetic. Pending applications from computing facilities in the three regions add up to more than 9 gigawatts, roughly the output of nine large power stations, and most of the grid reinforcements that would carry that power are a decade away.
Developers have responded by moving north and east, to the Nordics and to Poland, where power is cheaper and connection queues shorter. Some are proposing to build their own gas plants on site, a solution that satisfies no one's climate targets.
“Every one of these applicants is a serious company with serious money,” said Niamh O'Callaghan, who oversees connections at the Irish operator. “That is exactly why we have to be honest about what the wires can carry.”
Policymakers in Brussels are weighing whether to prioritize connections for facilities that agree to curtail their use during peak demand. The industry has signaled it could live with that, provided the rules are the same across the bloc.
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 11, 2026, Section B, Page 1 of the European edition with the headline: The Data Centers Are Coming for the Grid.
