Apple announced today its abandoning plans to build a $1 billion data center in Ireland after it spent three years attempting to get it approved. The facility was set to break ground in the small town of Athenry for its abundance of green energy sources, but planning delays caused by appeals from two individuals set the project back. Apple was set to go before Dublin’s Supreme Court on Thursday to face an appeal aimed at overturning an initial approval for the planned first phase of the center.
“Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data centre,” Apple said in a statement to Reuters.
Apple first unveiled plans to build the data centers in February 2015 but a series of legal setbacks meant it hadn’t started construction. Two individuals argued the power demands for the building had not been sufficiently considered. According to the Irish Times, the proposed facility would have brought in around 300 jobs with 150 technical staff running its operations on an ongoing basis, adding to the 5,500 people Apple already employs throughout the country. Instead, Apple will build another data center in Denmark, which has a surplus of renewable energy.
The decision isn’t just a blow to Apple. As Reuters points out, Ireland relies heavily on foreign investment to boost its employment numbers. The country’s minister for business, enterprise, and innovation, Heather Humphreys, expressed her disappointment that the plans fell through, but assured the government has made improvements to its approval processes in the past few months so it doesn’t happen again.
“The Government, together with IDA Ireland, did everything it could to support this investment,” Humphreys said. “This included high-level engagement with the company, both at home and abroad. Ultimately, in spite of these efforts, Apple has taken a commercial decision not to proceed, making it clear that the delays that beset this project caused them to reconsider their plans.”
The ambitious data center may not have panned out, but Apple still intends to invest in Ireland, “While disappointing, this setback will not dampen our enthusiasm for future projects in Ireland as our business continues to grow,” the company said in a statement.
Apple is finishing up expansions to its European headquarters in Cork, Ireland with a four-story office that can accommodate up to 1,000 people.