An Taisce lodges appeal against planned Louth data and energy centres

The decision by Louth County Council to grant planning permission for a development that included the construction of a data centre and an energy centre at the Premier Periclase production facility in Drogheda, has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by An Taisce.

Louth County Council granted conditional planning permission in June to Premier Periclase Limited, for the development at Strand Road and Boyne Avenue in Drogheda, that would comprise the demolition of existing structures on site and the construction of the first phase of a new sustainably powered enterprise campus.

In the application Premier Periclase Limited sought to construct a three storey energy centre building in the northwestern area of the subject site to accommodate nine gas engines, electrical rooms, mechanical plant rooms, telecommunication rooms, switchrooms and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) rooms and equipment.

The building would have a total ground floor area of 6,655 sqm., with plant and solar PV arrays at roof level, and an overall height of c. 26.6 metres, with nine flues, c. 28.9 metres in height.

It also sought to construct a three storey data centre building within the southern portion of the site to accommodate data hall floorspace, mechanical and electrical rooms, support facilities, telecommunication rooms, storage, and ancillary office / administration space, within the western portion of the building, which would incorporate three repurposed lime silos.

The building would have an overall height of c. 29 metres, with a total ground floor area of c. 26,550 sqm. Solar PV arrays and plant would be provided at roof level, with a structure offset from the southern façade of the building providing additional solar PV arrays and green wall.

The proposed development also includes construction of a single storey facility operations centre; a single storey pump and filtration building; ancillary structures including a single storey security gatehouse and security kiosk; an ESB Substation; a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Compound; a cooling compound substation; a thermal store compound.

An Taisce had made a submission to Louth County Council objecting to the development, for reasons including the energy consumption of data centres and the impact on carbon emissions; climate impacts; and the Water Framework Directive, water abstraction, as well as the impact it could have on local water supplies.

Following Louth County Council's decision to grant planning permission for the development, An Taisce lodges a third party appeal against the decision with An Bord Pleanála on 24 July.