By Ben Sullivan
Facebook is expanding its planned data center in County Meath, Ireland, before construction has even started.
The social network now plans to add a second building to the site, its second data center in Europe, after it was granted permission to build the extension this week by the local council.
14 Aviva Stadiums
The new building will bring the size of Facebook’s data center to 621,000 sq. ft., or the size of 14 Aviva stadiums—the home of Ireland’s national football and rugby teams in Dublin.
The data center, located near the town of Clonee, is Facebook’s first in Ireland. The social network currently operates just one data center in Europe, situated in Luleå, Sweden.
Tom Furlong, vice president of Infrastructure at Facebook, said: “We’re thrilled to have found a home in Clonee and [to] begin building our new data center as we continue to expand our infrastructure in Ireland.
“Everything here has been as advertised—from the strong pool of talent for construction and operations staff; to the great set of community partners who have helped us move forward quickly; to the opportunity to power our facility with 100 percent renewable wind energy.”
Renewable wind energy will be sourced from BrookfieldRenewable’s Irish operations. Brookfield owns and operates a portfolio of renewable wind energy projects across Ireland totaling 465 MW and all renewable wind energy supplying Facebook’s facilities in Ireland is located in Ireland, claims the company.
Facebook said that the build will create 2,000 construction jobs, with 150 long-term jobs once the data center is up and running—by no later than 2018.
Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council Cllr. Brian Fitzgerald said that this morning’s groundbreaking ceremony was another positive step towards the building of the data center.
“This is a very important project for Ireland, for Meath and particularly for the community in Clonee, having an internationally recognized company like Facebook in our county sends out a great message that Meath is an attractive place to invest in and to do business.”