High hopes of a major data centre in north Mayo

THE former Asahi site in Killala is coming under increasing attention from European and American companies interested in setting up a data centre there, members of Mayo County Council have been told.

Pat McHale, executive engineer with the council, stated hopes of a data centre being situated on the disused 20 hectare site are 'very realistic.'

Most data centres are located around Dublin, Mr. McHale explained, but now, with Apple setting up in Athenry, Co. Galway, it has been shown that companies are willing to move to rural areas.

Mr. McHale outlined that the key ingredients for a data centre are power and connectivity.

He pointed to the existence of the transatlantic America to Europe which has made landfall at the Asahi site and has huge capacity.

Also, the official continued, there are now two 110 KV power lines going into Asahi. This meant that if one power supply went down, the site wouldn't lose power, backup which would be essential to the operation of a data centre.

Mr. McHale conceded that Mayo Power is 'at a standstill at the moment' as regards its plans for the Killala site but he added that there is potential that in time the project will be completed.

Should that happen it would be another huge plus for the site in terms of renewable energy.

Also, he went on, there is a lot of wind energy potential in the west of Ireland which could be pushed into Asahi to facilitate the powering up of a data centre.

Mr. McHale expressed confidence that hopes for a data centre in Killala will be delivered on.

He said that if the right proposal comes along, it will be put before county councillors for discussion.