Microsoft to build four new Dublin data centers, costing $1 billion

Ireland is going to benefit greatly from Microsoft’s new green-lit project of building four data centers in the country’s capital, Dublin, reports the Independent, Ireland’s largest daily newspaper.

The project, reportedly involving up to 900 million euros (more than $1 billion) of investment from Microsoft, will be spanning three years, with an expected 140 new full-time jobs created. The town, Clondalkin, 10 km west of Dublin, already houses one of Microsoft’s data centers at Grange Castle, where the new ones are reportedly also to be built.

“These data centre facilities were originally designed to meet Microsoft Ireland’s data centre server requirements based on projections completed in 2007,” “Since that time, the demand for online services has expanded exponentially and additional data centre development is required to allow Microsoft Ireland to meet an ever-growing worldwide demand for the services it offers over the internet”.

Ireland was reportedly chose as the location for Microsoft’s data centers due to its “temperate climate” and also based on “strategic business considerations”. The sentiment seems to be shared by other technology giants, as Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook also have, or are planning to build, data centers in the country. The combined investment from these behemoths is expected to transform Ireland in the upcoming years.

Feature Image: Microsoft’s Grange Castle data center. Credit: Independent.