Internet giant Google has begun construction of a new €150m data centre in west Dublin at Profile Park. The project will generate 400 new jobs during construction and the first phase will be completed later this year.

The new two-storey data centre is being built alongside Google’s existing data centre, which opened in 2012.

Google has also completed the purchase of 31 acres adjacent to its facilities in Profile Park, which will give the company flexibility should it have additional data centre requirements in the future.

“The data centre that we built in Dublin in 2012 has worked really well for us and created around 30 full-time jobs,” said Ronan Harris, head of Google in Ireland.

“We have now started construction on our second data centre and we have been working with the local community as the building gets underway.”

The company employs up to 5,000 people in Dublin; 2,500 directly and 2,500 indirectly.

Google’s latest energy-efficient data centre

The new data centre will rank among the most energy efficient in the world.

It will use an advanced air-cooling system to keep its computers running smoothly, taking advantage of Ireland’s naturally cool climate.

This will enable the internet giant to reduce significantly its energy requirements and helps maintain its global status as a carbon-neutral company.

The Google investment comes just months after Apple revealed it was building an €850m data centre in Athenry, Galway, which will be powered by renewable energy.

Ronan Harris said the west Dublin data centre will be integral to Google’s core platforms, including YouTube, Google Maps and Gmail.

“Every day, millions of people around the world search on Google for information, products and services.

“In addition, millions of people worldwide use other Google services and applications, such as Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube. Google’s data centres around the world help power these services and ensure that Google searches remain fast and that our services are always secure and available.”

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