Fear of electricity blackouts has prompted Irish authorities to set down new protocols for data centre operators.
EirGrid, the national grid operator, has identified a “risk to grid stability” from data centre behaviour and is asking the sector to comply with new practices to safeguard power supply.
Under a new code, data centres would be required to remain connected to the grid during the millisecond-long faults that sometimes arise on the electricity system.
Ordinarily, they disconnect instantly and run on their own backup power supply.
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But EirGrid says the sudden simultaneous disconnection of a sector that accounts for 22 per cent of all electricity used in the State risks destabilising the entire grid.
“Worst-case scenario, it could be a blackout on the system,” said Liam Ryan, EirGrid’s chief transformation, technology and offshore officer. “We are not going to let that happen.”
EirGrid has been managing the risk to date. But with data centre expansion forecast to increase the sector’s electricity demand to 30 per cent in the next five years, the risk could increase without the code.
The same issue has been flagged in countries worldwide where data centres are expanding and increasing their demand for power.
EirGrid advised Ministers of the issue in an information note brought to Cabinet on Wednesday. It told the Cabinet it “has implemented and will continue to implement a range of operational protective measures to manage this issue”.
But it added: “We forecast that these measures may soon become exhausted unless further action is taken.”
It indicated an intention to send the proposed code to the energy regulator, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, which needs to issue it as a formal direction for it to become mandatory.
“It is critical that this modification and associated compliance and derogation framework are put in place in a timely manner,” said EirGrid.
The derogation would run for two years, after which all data centres – and other large energy users such as big manufacturing plants – would have to comply.
Remaining connected to the grid during glitches and incidents that can cause fleeting interruptions in supply is called “fault ride through” (FRT).
“Based on industry feedback, there will initially be an inability from most LEUs [large energy users] to comply with the proposed FRT requirements,” said EirGrid.
Ryan said EirGrid had been working with the sector for several years on the problem and would continue to help them comply with the code.
“They’d prefer if we weren’t doing this because they now have to make changes to their systems,” he said.
“But from our engagements with them, they understand the importance of a secure, reliable system both for themselves and for other users.”
