AWS Secures Final Approval for Major Dublin Data Center Campus

AWS Secures Final Approval for Major Dublin Data Center Campus

January 2, 2026

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has received definitive planning permission from Ireland's national planning appeals board to construct a significant three-building data center campus in north Dublin, overcoming a multi-year approval process. The decision underscores the intense scrutiny and regulatory balancing act facing hyperscale cloud providers as they expand critical infrastructure in key European markets, particularly those grappling with grid capacity constraints.

The cloud giant, through its affiliate Universal Developers LLC, was granted permission by An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) for the facilities on a 65-acre site at Cruiserath Road. The approval comes three years after the initial application was filed and follows a 2023 greenlight from the local Fingal County Council, which was subsequently appealed by five parties. The planning body's ruling imposes a key condition: AWS must enter into a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) with a renewable energy provider matching or exceeding the campus's total energy consumption.

The campus will comprise three buildings—dubbed Data Centre E, F, and G—with a combined gross floor area exceeding 42,500 square meters (approximately 457,000 square feet). The facilities are designed to operate with a substantial combined power load of 73 megawatts (MW). A critical factor in the project's viability is a grid connection secured with EirGrid back in 2019, which allows it to bypass the current de facto moratorium on new data center connections in the Dublin region due to electricity network constraints.

In its decision, the ACP concluded the development would not have an "unacceptable impact" on the environment, though it acknowledged potential effects from greenhouse gas emissions. This assessment contrasts with AWS's own submission as recently as July 2025, in which the company argued the project would have "no significant impact on climate." The mandated renewable PPA is intended to mitigate the environmental footprint.

The approval signals a path forward for large-scale digital infrastructure projects in Ireland, provided they can address growing concerns over energy sustainability and grid integration. For AWS, it secures vital expansion capacity in a strategic European hub, reinforcing its infrastructure footprint amid soaring demand for cloud and AI services.

Source: datacenterdynamics