Pure DC and AVK commission Europe's first large-scale data centre microgrid in Dublin

What happened

Pure Data Centres Group and the critical-power specialist AVK-SEG announced on 11 March 2026 the deployment of what they describe as Europe's first large-scale data centre microgrid, at Pure DC's campus in Ballycoolin, Dublin. The 110MW microgrid comprises three interconnected on-site energy centres; the first two are due to be fully operational by the end of 2026, with the third following at a later stage.

The Ballycoolin campus currently runs 54MW across three data centres: DUB01 (14MW, live since 2024), DUB02 (24MW) and DUB03 (16MW), with a further 25 acres acquired to the west in 2023 and expansion potential of about 90MW, subject to permitting and power availability. Pure DC has over 1GW of capacity live or under development globally. AVK-SEG chief executive Ben Pritchard noted that while several such microgrids operate in the United States, "until today, there have been none of these deployments in Europe".

The technology

The microgrid is a hybrid configuration combining grid electricity with on-site gas-fired generation, built on AVK's microgrid technology. Each energy centre pairs generation with a battery energy storage system for load management, and the plant includes combined heat and power capability, opening the possibility of exporting waste heat to district heating networks, alongside waste heat recovery, rainwater harvesting and on-site water treatment. The infrastructure is hydrogen-ready, designed to accommodate hydrogen blending as supply chains for lower-carbon fuels develop.

The design intent is dispatchable, campus-controlled capacity: the microgrid supports operations in the early phases of the campus's growth before full grid integration, rather than waiting on a utility connection sized for the full load. One published figure worth flagging: the partners state 110MW total capacity, while reported per-centre figures of around 30MW each do not sum to that total — the phasing of capacity across the three centres has not been fully broken down in public.

Why it matters for UK & Ireland

Dublin is the test case for what happens when data centre demand outruns the grid. New grid connections for data centres in the Dublin region have been heavily constrained, and the campus is explicitly designed to provide dispatchable capacity ahead of full grid integration — self-supply as an answer to a connection problem. Gary Wojtaszek, Pure DC's executive chairman and interim chief executive, put it plainly: "The biggest barrier to deploying AI infrastructure in Europe today isn't technology, it's power."

A working 110MW microgrid demonstrates a template for adding AI-scale capacity in constrained markets without a conventional grid connection leading the schedule. Pritchard framed the wider point: on-site energy infrastructure complements national frameworks, and power has shifted "from utility to strategic asset" for data centre competitiveness. For Ireland, there is a civic dimension too — Fingal's mayor, Councillor Tom O'Leary, backed the project as "innovation with purpose", citing renewable integration, storage and low-carbon fuel trials.

The precedent travels. Great Britain has its own grid connection pressures as data centre demand grows, making the self-supply model directly relevant to UK developers, and National Grid's parallel work on data centre flexibility suggests grid operators are converging on the same problem from the other side.

What to watch

Commissioning milestones first: whether energy centres one and two are indeed fully operational by end-2026, and the timetable for the third. Then the environmental profile in practice — a gas-fired microgrid is a pragmatic answer to a power shortage, not a decarbonisation measure, so the pace at which hydrogen blending, CHP heat export and battery-led optimisation materialise will determine how the project is judged.

Watch also the regulatory response in Ireland: if EirGrid and the CRU treat proven self-supply favourably, expect a queue of imitators. Neither investment figures nor emissions data have been disclosed; both would help the market assess whether Ballycoolin is a template or a one-off.