Irish data centre developer Red Admiral has received planning approval from Westmeath County Council for a €1 billion ($1.16 billion) campus combining a 250MW data centre and a solar farm on a 600-acre site outside Rochfortbridge, as reported by BeBeez International.

BeBeez International reported that the council granted approval on 2 June, with the development comprising six 14,000 sqm data centre buildings across 96 acres, and a solar farm spanning 415 acres to the east of the facility, incorporating a battery energy storage system.

The solar farm will use fuel cells supplied by SK ecoplant, part of South Korean conglomerate SK Group. The fuel cell technology will serve as the primary energy source for the campus, with the battery storage system supporting grid integration and energy management across the site.

Red Admiral is a subsidiary of Irish energy firm Lumcloon Energy, which already has an existing presence in Rochfortbridge through separate plans for a 65MW battery storage facility and a 275MW natural gas power plant in the area.

The campus will be bounded by the Monagh River to its north, Kiltotan and Collinstown to its south, Farthingstown to its east, and Gneevebane to its west, with access to the site provided from the R498 road corridor.

The approval was not without opposition. Seventy submissions were lodged against the proposal, raising concerns about the environmental impact of the development, the suitability of a data centre in a rural location, and the additional strain the campus would place on the Irish national grid.

Data centres currently account for approximately 20% of Ireland's metered electricity consumption, according to a 2025 report by the Central Statistics Office, making grid impact a recurring point of contention for large-scale developments of this kind.

Plans for the facility were first reported in November 2023 and formally submitted by Red Admiral in December 2024, with the June approval marking the conclusion of a multi-year planning process.

Access the full report on Red Admiral's Westmeath approval.