News & Events

Echelon Data Centres announces creation of 1,100 jobs through €1bn investment in development of new data centres

Echelon Data Centres Limited, a new Irish company based in Dublin, has announced that it will create 1,100 jobs through the €1bn development of 89,000m² of data centres with a total capacity of more than 180MW.

Echelon is to construct data centres of 44,000m² (477,000 sqft) in Clondalkin, Dublin, and 45,000m² (484,000 sqft) in Arklow, Co Wicklow, with respective capacities of up to 84MW and 100MW. The capacity available across the two wholly-owned facilities is the equivalent of approximately 34% of all operational capacity currently available in Ireland and 15% of that either planned or in development.

Planning permission has been granted for the Clondalkin site and is imminent for Arklow. The first tranche of 40MW of capacity will be available in Clondalkin in Q3 2020.

The 1,100 jobs being created consist of 460 construction jobs and 100 operational positions in Clondalkin, and 450 construction jobs and 90 operational positions in Arklow.

The company’s jobs and investment plans were announced in Dublin this morning at an event attended by the Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, as well as senior representatives from the data centre industry and global technology companies.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Humphreys said: “This €1bn investment is fantastic news for Ireland, especially as it’s one that will use a number of Irish suppliers and domestic expertise in its delivery. Success breeds success and Echelon’s new presence here will add to our increasing reputation as a great place to do business.”

She continued: “It’s particularly encouraging to see an indigenous company making this type of commitment to a sector that we think of as being dominated by Silicon Valley giants.”

Echelon is owned by Aldgate Developments, a UK and Ireland-based property development company. The company is working to a ‘Triple 5’ strategy – the development of 500MW of capacity, in five countries, by 2025.

Niall Molloy, CEO of Echelon Data Centres, said that the provision of customisable, scalable data centre facilities is key to the continuing growth of the digital economy, driven by social media, ecommerce, digital broadcasting and the internet of things.

“We’re thrilled that work to build Echelon’s first data centres has commenced. Between our two sites in Clondalkin and Arklow, and other sites that we are in the process of identifying and acquiring in Ireland, the UK and Europe, Echelon will become one of Europe’s biggest data centre providers,” he said.

“What this major investment means for Ireland is the creation of many high-quality jobs. The development and operation of these two sites alone will provide employment for 1,100 people through a capital investment of €1bn which will enhance and support Ireland’s growing tech ecosystem.”

“The capacity available across Echelon’s first two facilities is the equivalent of 34% of all current operational capacity available in Ireland and about 15% of all capacity in planning and development. This will enable us to accommodate future growth strategies for clients. Echelon’s hands-on and flexible approach to meeting customer requirements goes as far as offering a site identification, acquisition and development service.”

In addition to its current portfolio, Echelon is in the process of identifying other sites in the UK and Europe and will announce further developments in due course.

ENDS

For further information, contact The Content Partnership on +353 (0) 1 531 3532.
– Craig McKechnie | craig@thecontentpartnership.ie | 087 621 8839.
– Richard Burke | richard@thecontentpartnership.ie | 086 816 7822.


Notes to editors

• Echelon Clondalkin is located in Clondalkin Industrial Estate in Dublin, next to the M50 and close to Grange Castle and Profile Park.
• Echelon Avoca is located on the former Irish Fertilisers Industries site in Avoca Business Park, next to the M11 in Arklow, Co Wicklow.
• Echelon Data Centres is a data centre owner, developer and operator building a network of large-scale data centre campuses across Europe to meet the rapidly expanding global demand for data processing and storage solutions.
• With a strategic focus on occupiers with large-scale medium and long-term requirements, Echelon offers complete solutions from powered shells to full custom fit outs.
• Echelon is owned by Aldgate Developments, which has more than one million sqft of commercial development in progress in Dublin and London.
• All of Echelon’s data centre sites are fully owned and our active projects are self- funded.

• The Data Centre Landscape:

o There were 48 data centre facilities in Ireland at the end of Q3 2018.
o Hyperscaler companies account for 73% of MW capacity used.
o 540MW – Irish data centre capacity operational.
o 722MW in construction, in planning or on masterplan.
o By 2025, the global ‘digital universe’ (the data created and copied every year) will reach 175 zettabytes (175x1021 bytes) from 33 zettabytes today .
o This growth is driven by corporates operating in the fields of cloud computing, online retail, social media, digital broadcasting and the internet of things.
• More information at www.echelon-dc.com.