ABB Launches Ultracapacitor Platform to Help Irish Data Centres Meet EirGrid's New Grid Rules

Why Ireland's Data Centres Are Being Turned Into Grid Stabilisers

Ireland's data centres are about to face a fundamental change in how they interact with the national power grid. Data centres already consume around 24% of Ireland's electricity supply, and the IEA projects that share will reach 30% by 2030, driven by cloud computing and artificial intelligence. As the load grows, the cost of grid disturbances is also rising: the amount of load lost during fault events jumped from 74 MW in January 2022 to 387 MW in May 2025.

That pressure has pushed the grid operator, EirGrid, into a more demanding regulatory stance. Its Large Energy-User Action Plan requires major data centres to provide dispatchable generation and storage equivalent to their Maximum Import Capacity and to participate more actively in electricity markets. New developments must also source at least 80% of annual electricity from newly built renewable projects. A proposed grid code modification, MPID345, would go further, requiring large demand facilities to stay connected during disturbances, restore 90% of pre-fault demand within 500 milliseconds of voltage recovery, and tolerate frequency changes of up to ±1 Hz per second.

ABB says it has a solution that meets those obligations without requiring data centre operators to re-engineer their existing electrical systems. The company's new platform combines ultracapacitor energy storage, grid-forming power conversion and real-time digital controls in modular behind-the-meter units that can respond to grid faults within milliseconds. For a representative 50 MW data centre, ABB says the system would consist of five 8.4 MVA power blocks, providing roughly 42 MVA of dynamic support capacity.

ABB positions the technology as an alternative to heavier infrastructure such as synchronous condensers or e-statcoms, and argues that precise, coordinated control matters more than extra backup capacity. The company has set out the approach in a whitepaper, and expects similar requirements to spread beyond Ireland, citing Spain and the US state of Texas as markets to watch.

ABB's Ultracapacitor Bet: Compliance Without a Grid Overhaul

Why EirGrid Is Tightening the Rules

The regulatory shift is not hypothetical. As data centre loads grow, the scale of load lost during faults has more than quintupled in three years, rising from 74 MW in January 2022 to 387 MW in May 2025. When large loads shed at the same time, the power imbalance can produce frequency excursions that cascade across the whole system. EirGrid's answer is to turn large consumers into active stability providers, requiring dispatchable generation and storage equal to Maximum Import Capacity, plus the faster fault-ride-through demands in MPID345. These are verified changes to how the grid is run; the exact final wording of MPID345 remains to be confirmed.

ABB's Pitch: Milliseconds Instead of Megawatts

ABB's core argument is that compliance with MPID345 is less about installing more generating capacity and more about reacting almost instantly during faults. Ultracapacitors can discharge very quickly, which makes them suited to the 500-millisecond demand-recovery window outlined in the proposed code. The company contrasts its modular, behind-the-meter platform with traditional synchronous condensers and e-statcoms, claiming lower capital and operating costs while also enabling participation in flexibility and ancillary services markets. This is ABB's commercial positioning as much as an engineering claim — the technology has yet to be proven in volume at data centre scale, and the company's whitepaper is advocacy as well as analysis.

Who Gains and Who Pays

If MPID345 passes as proposed, Irish data centre operators face a new compliance bill regardless of technology choice. ABB is the most visible vendor positioning for that spend, and its early move could give it a lead in a market that is only starting to form. EirGrid and the wider Irish system gain a resource that can help keep the grid stable as renewable penetration rises. The clearest cost falls on operators of existing and planned facilities, who must weigh the ultracapacitor route against alternatives, secure 80% renewable supply for new builds, and decide whether to invest before the regulatory deadline to unlock ancillary-service revenues. The same pattern is starting to appear in Spain and Texas, which broadens the potential market but also invites more competition for ABB.

How Irish Data Centre Operators Can Prepare for MPID345

• Model the compliance gap now: benchmark existing protection, UPS and backup-generation systems against MPID345's requirements — staying connected during faults, restoring 90% of demand within 500 ms, and tolerating ±1 Hz/s frequency changes — before the code is finalised.
• Compare technology options using concrete sizing, not vendor claims: for a 50 MW facility, ABB's proposal means five 8.4 MVA blocks (about 42 MVA of dynamic support); benchmark that against synchronous condenser or e-statcom alternatives on both CapEx and OpEx.
• For new developments, factor the 80% renewable sourcing rule into site selection and power purchase agreement timelines, since it applies alongside grid-code obligations.
• Track EirGrid's consultation on MPID345 and the Large Energy-User Action Plan compliance dates, and assess whether early investment unlocks participation in flexibility and ancillary services markets before competitors crowd in.