Reducing the environmental footprint of new data centre projects has shot up the priority list for construction managers in the UK and Ireland, according to new research from Aggreko.
The company surveyed 495 data centre construction managers across Europe, including 104 respondents working on projects in the UK and Ireland. Almost one in three managers active in Britain, and more than two in five in Ireland, ranked cutting their project’s environmental impact as a top concern – a figure that dwarfs many traditional headaches such as programme overruns or supply-chain delays.
73% of British respondents – and a striking 96% of those in Ireland – said sustainability now matters more than it did three years ago. Although driving that change appears to be legislation in the UK, while Irish managers are more motivated by their need to lower carbon emissions – especially given the widespread backlash data centres in Ireland have had from the general public in recent years, including a high profile protest by climate campaigners at DataCentres Ireland last year.
Despite sustainability’s rising importance, two-thirds of UK respondents and four-fifths of their Irish counterparts admitted that “knowledge of legislation at senior levels is not always implemented on site”, raising the spectre of future non-compliance.
What construction managers want the most
Battery energy storage systems emerged as the front-runner when it came to the most wishlisted item for future UK deployments, while Irish managers favoured alternative fuels such as hydrogen or biomethanol. Yet enthusiasm collides with hard economics: 48% of British respondents and 42% of Irish respondents pointed to high capital costs as the single biggest barrier, with a quarter in both markets also highlighting poor biofuel availability.
Those challenges are unfolding against an already stretched development pipeline. Property adviser Savills recently warned that planned European capacity must almost double-and-a-half by the end of 2025 simply to keep pace with surging demand for cloud, AI and high-performance computing.
Billy Durie, Global Sector Head for Data Centres at Aggreko, noted, “It is not a surprise to us that data centre construction managers are finding it difficult to battle the challenges facing the industry. Combined with mounting pressure for more data centre space, it seems that we are currently operating in a perfect storm.
“For data centre construction managers active in the UK and Ireland, it is vital they work together with a trusted and reliable energy supplier that understands the industry’s challenges. At Aggreko, we know that it’s not as simple as taking the plunge on greener upgrades; there are various barriers that must be navigated, and managers need flexibility on their side to be able to respond to whatever challenges are thrown their way.
“We know, and our survey has shown, that it is not for a lack of wanting that data centre construction managers are unable to meet sustainability targets as quickly or efficiently as they would like. By supporting the industry, we can work together to address many of these issues simultaneously through temporary power storage and provision solutions.”
