Plans for a €3 billion ‘next generation’ data centre campus in County Kildare have been stalled following environmentalists lodging appeals against Kildare County Council’s decision to approve the project.
Last month, the Council granted planning permission to Herbata Ltd, led by multimillionaire engineering entrepreneur and co-owner of Monaghan-based forklift manufacturer Combilift, Robert Moffett. The proposal is for a six data centre campus on a site next to the M7 motorway and business park at Naas, Co Kildare.
However, environmental groups An Taisce, alongside Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) and Friends of the Earth Ireland (FOTEI), have submitted third-party appeals with An Bord Pleanála (ACP) against the permission granted.
Herbata Ltd has also filed a first-party appeal with the ACP, challenging several conditions attached to the planning permission.
### Environmental Concerns Raised by FIE and FOTEI
In their joint appeal, Tony Lowes of FIE and Jerry MacEvilly of FOTEI described the Herbata Data Centre as a “high-risk, high-emission project” that conflicts with Ireland’s statutory climate commitments, sectoral emissions ceilings, and energy efficiency obligations.
They criticized the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR), calling it flawed and reliant on unsupported mitigation measures, which they say makes the application defective.
The development plans include six large data halls equipped with on-site gas turbines, engines, and associated infrastructure, set to impose a continuous electricity demand of approximately 240 MW — tripling the current metered demand in County Kildare.
According to the appeal, the campus’s scale would have profound and adverse effects on Ireland’s energy system, carbon budgets, and statutory climate obligations.
### Impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Lowes and MacEvilly estimate the data campus emissions over five years to be 4.764 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e), based on a projected annual output of 952,806 tCO2e. They highlight that this would consume roughly 24% of the electricity sector’s carbon budget for a single five-year period, which they argue is a disproportionately large share for one project.
They classify the scale of emissions as a major adverse environmental impact.
The appellants stress that An Bord Pleanála has a clear obligation to ensure its decisions support, rather than undermine, Ireland’s pathway to a climate-neutral economy and therefore submit that planning permission must be refused.
### An Taisce’s Position
Phoebe Duvall, Senior Planning and Environmental Policy Officer with An Taisce, echoed these concerns. She described the proposed campus as a highly significant new source of electricity demand and carbon emissions, fundamentally incompatible with Ireland’s legally binding emissions reduction obligations.
### Herbata’s Appeal
In its first-party appeal, Herbata challenges conditions related to the impact on hedgerows and townland boundaries, a bat derogation licence, and the provision of linked running watercourses.
### Next Steps
A decision on all appeals is expected in January next year, which will determine whether the ambitious data centre project in Co Kildare can proceed.
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*Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.*
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/environmental-groups-challenge-council-green-light-for-e3bn-data-centre-campus-in-kildare-1811100.html