Foyle Port: International data centre given go ahead

The data centre will host computer data and services equipment for tech companies around the world

An International data centre has been granted planning permission from Derry City and Strabane District Council to be established at Foyle Port.

The development, from Atlantic Hub, will host computer data and services equipment for large tech companies.

Londonderry Chamber of Commerce chief, Paul Clancy, said the development will be "transformative" for the north west.

It is hoped the facility will generate "up to 100 jobs" at the site and attract further investment.

The campus at Foyle Port will have the capacity for up to one million sq ft of technical floor space with complementary hi-tech office accommodation - one of the largest ever property developments in the north west.

Foyle Port has been described as an "ideal location" for the new data centre.

Brian Doherty, who is the managing director of Atlantic Hub, says that Foyle Port is a fantastic location to establish the centre.

"Location is key because a data centre needs good connectivity, a good power source and good climate conditions and we have got those three perquisites in spades at Foyle Port," Mr Doherty said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, Mr Doherty said that the company intends to utilise wind power and "intends to be the greenest, environmentally friendly data centre in Western Europe".

'Hundreds of jobs'

"We envisage that once the facility is developed there would be jobs of up to 100 or more," Mr Doherty said.

However, Mr Doherty said that data centres, as seen in Dublin, can attract large businesses that want to be located close to them.

"At the moment we are talking to clients, who not only require data centre services, but also are looking at the potential to establish operations facilities here in support of those services."

"That could lead to hundreds of jobs and we hope that is the case," he added.

'A new cargo of data'

Director of Foyle Port, George Cuthbert, said that the port has started to think about "diversification" and planning for the future.

"A large part of our cargo, which is coal and oil, is eventually going to reduce and probably going to disappear completely in the future," Mr Cuthbert said.

"There is an unstoppable move towards a green economy," he added.