Tallaght District Heating Scheme
Research reviewed October 18, 2026. This is a district-energy network connected to a data centre; it is not a data-centre campus record.
Related Spotlight: Three Ways Data Centers Connect to Local Infrastructure →
The Network
Heat Works, a not-for-profit company owned by South Dublin County Council, operates the Tallaght District Heating Scheme. The network captures heat from an Amazon Web Services data centre and delivers it through heat pumps and insulated pipes to connected buildings in south Dublin. The first phase began operating in 2023. South Dublin County Council says the network expanded in 2024 to include Work IQ and 133 cost-rental apartments.
The reported customer connections establish an operating heat-reuse system. They do not, by themselves, establish the data centre’s total heat output, the share of building demand met in every period or the net emissions result after electricity used by heat pumps.
Operating Record and Expansion
South Dublin County Council reported 1,421.84 tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions saved in 2025. That is the Council’s reported estimate; this page has not independently recalculated it. Earlier project reporting describes the role of heat pumps and the need to match recovered heat with demand. The heat source is connected to the data centre, while the network’s delivered service depends on the full system and its electricity use.
The Council has discussed extending the network and adding thermal storage. Those are development plans, not operating components of the current phase. The available record reviewed here does not establish that phase-two construction has started or that a thermal-storage facility has been commissioned.
What to Watch
- Whether the Council advances the thermal-storage work to tender and construction.
- Published operating data for heat delivered, customer connections and heat-pump electricity use.
- Any phase-two funding decision, route and construction schedule.
Scope
This page follows the local heat network as related infrastructure. It does not count Tallaght as a data-centre project, assign it a data-centre capacity or include it in Fjord Journal’s project inventory, readiness index or certification totals.
Sources and Claim Boundaries
- South Dublin County Council — Tallaght District Heating Scheme
Council overview: Heat Works operates the scheme; phase 1 has operated since 2023 and the network expanded in 2024. Council-reported emissions savings are attributed to the Council.
- Codema — Tallaght District Heating Network
Dublin energy agency and project partner: heat recovery, heat pumps, customer connections and early operating figures.
- Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland — Tallaght District Heating Network
Government energy agency case study: heat source, network and heat-pump design; historical operating data.
- Dublin Inquirer — Tallaght district heating
Independent reporting on the operating system, electricity use for heat pumps, network design and questions around expansion.
- The Irish Times — Tallaght district heating network
Independent report on the network opening and intended public-building, university and residential connections.
Source-based profile. Company and public-agency figures are attributed; no original site visit or independent engineering assessment was conducted.