After a period of delays and an official hearing with Irish regulatory body An Bord Pleanála, Apple has finally been given permission to move ahead with its 500-acre data center site near the west coast of Ireland.
Apple’s case was heard back in May this year, but it took until recently for inspector Stephen Kay to submit his recommendations to the Irish advisory board about the $960 million project.
The data center will help power Apple Music, the App Store, iMessages, Maps and Siri for customers in Europe. It is also set to be one of Apple’s most environmentally-friendly developments yet, although it has received criticism from some locals — mainly regarding the impact it could have on local wildlife, traffic, drainage and power consumption.
Nonetheless, An Bord Pleanála moved ahead with giving Apple the green light to build the first data hall, arguing that doing so will provide a significant economic boost to the region. Apple hopes to build a total of eight data halls on the site over the next 10-15 years, but will have to apply for new planning permission for each subsequent data hall it wants to open.
Apple is also planning a new data center in Denmark, the same size as its Irish development. In the U.S., Apple reportedly has data centre facilities in Newark, Santa Clara, Cupertino, and Maiden.
Source: Business Insider
