13th January 2026
The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, and Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD, have published a Large Energy User Action Plan (LEAP) following approval by Cabinet today.
Core to this strategy is the location of new large energy demands near renewable energy sources.
LEAP will enable Ireland to attract the next generation of investment in energy intensive sectors over the coming decades. Energy intensive sectors include semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, precision engineering and data centres. Due to their scale and energy consumption, they will benefit from coordination with national infrastructure planning. Businesses in these sectors provide economic growth, long-term employment and support communities across Ireland’s regions.
Welcoming today’s publication, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, commented that:
“The approach set out in the Large Energy User Action Plan will enable regions across Ireland to attract investment in the next generation of strategic industry, promoting long-term economic development and providing further employment across the regions.
"This will enhance Ireland’s proposition as a world‑class place to do business in and as strategic knowledge-intensive regional hub for the ICT sector, where a secure, sustainable energy system supports innovation, investment and long‑term industrial growth."
Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, also welcomed Government approval for LEAP, stating:
“A strategic approach to the development of energy intensive industry in Ireland, over the medium-term, will drive further innovation and investment in our renewable energy sector over coming decades.
"Critically, future industrial development will be aligned with Ireland’s continued green transition, robust energy security, infrastructure delivery, and affordability of energy for households and businesses throughout the country. Complementarity with other strategic government objectives, such as housing and transport, supports this plan-led approach.”
Through 17 key enabling actions, LEAP addresses existing barriers to energy intensive industrial developments and ensures continued alignment with Ireland’s green energy transition. By adopting a ‘plan-led’ approach to the largest energy intensive industrial developments, we will safeguard our energy security, affordability and the competitiveness of Irish enterprise.
The ‘plan-led’ approach includes identifying green energy parks that will co-locate the most energy intensive industries with indigenous renewable energy resources, including offshore wind. It also ensures consistency of infrastructure planning with other strategic government priorities, such as provision of housing, transport and water.
Notes to editors:
- Also published today is expert study on Green Energy Park concepts and international examples, which has informed the LEAP.
- LEAP sets out a ‘plan-led’ approach only to very large and energy intensive investments, such as hyperscale data centres, semiconductor manufacturing or biopharma facilities, which due to their scale and energy consumption will benefit from coordination with national infrastructure planning.
- The implementation of LEAP will provide for green energy parks co-locating energy intensive industrial development with the supply of renewable energy, by private developers. These will be informed by a forthcoming National Planning Statement and other government and regulatory policies, as appropriate. LEAP may also provide for identification, by government or an appropriate State body, of a limited number of state-led green energy park sites. LEAP does not preclude energy intensive developments outside of these strategic plan-led locations, and these will remain possible in the period before and beyond 2030 in line with existing planning arrangements. However, LEAP anticipates that a number of very large energy intensive projects will be best facilitated through these strategically prepared, nationally planned locations.
Data centres:
- Alongside the new Large Energy Users Connections Policy published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) in December 2025, the publication of LEAP provides clarity on opportunities for future data centre investments. It reinforces the government’s commitment to accelerating Ireland’s twin digital and green transitions.
- Ireland has fostered a data centre sector of global significance, which provides digital infrastructure for Ireland’s modern economy enabling cloud computing, remote working and rapid growth in the use of internet services by enterprise and household consumers.
- Data centres have anchored other valuable activities in the Irish economy and strengthened Ireland’s position as a strategic knowledge-intensive regional hub for the ICT sector. Companies that operate data centres in Ireland, whether for their own needs or as a provider of services to other users, account for approximately 21,000 direct employees, within an ecosystem of over 180,000 employees in the ICT sector. Expertise developed by indigenous enterprise around data centres has established associated construction, engineering, design and electrical specialist subsectors in Ireland with a global advantage, supporting employment and exports.
- Ireland’s data centre policy is set out in the Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland’s Enterprise Strategy, 2022, which highlights a preference for projects associated with strong economic and employment activity, efficient use of renewable resources and electricity grid infrastructure, and co-location with renewables.
An updated Large Energy Users Connection Policy was published by the CRU, Ireland’s independent national regulatory authority, in December 2025. This has provided increased transparency in respect of new data centre connections to Ireland’s electricity network. The updated CRU decision establishes a pathway for new data centres to seek connection to the electricity system, addressing security of electricity supply and network constraint considerations, while promoting Ireland’s renewable energy ambitions. LEAP is complementary and without prejudice to this updated CRU policy.
ENDS
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