Construction BUSINESS

Internet retail giant Amazon is planning yet another massive data centre in Dublin in a move that could propel its expected total capital expenditure on such projects here to as much as €1bn, the Irish Independent has revealed.

The newspaper recently reported that Amazon is already planning to build another huge data centre at a site in Blanchardstown in Dublin. That’s expected to cost as much as €200m to build.

But now Amazon is also planning the construction of another large data centre on a huge site close to Dublin Airport, at the Clonshaugh Business and Technology Park.

The site was formerly home to GE Superabrasives. The former GE factory and associated offices extends over 18,441 sq m, or almost 200,000 sq ft, on a total site of 9.3 hectares.

GE put the site up for sale at the end of 2013 with a €5m price tag.

Amazon already operates a data centre at the Clonshaugh park at a leased premises that’s owned by Digital Realty Trust.

It’s believed that some preparatory site work is already under way at the former GE Superabrasives site.

It will undoubtedly be one of the biggest data centre sites the US firm has in Ireland. The country has been experiencing a boom in data centre construction thanks in part to its temperate climate, which helps lower the cost of cooling the large buildings.

The computer servers running in these centres create a huge amount of heat, so companies are looking for relatively inexpensive ways of keeping them cool.

That has led to the likes of Ireland, Norway, and other countries that would not be renowned for their weather becoming the ideal location for these storage centres.

Privacy concerns in the US have also made European countries a favoured destination for these data centres.

While Amazon uses its data centres for its own operations, they’re also used for its web services business, where offers data hosting to other companies. Its global clients include firms such as Airbnb, Unilever and Angry Birds maker Rovio.