ABB builds ultracapacitor storage for Ireland's data-center grid rule

ABB has launched an ultracapacitor storage system built for one regulation, according to Data Center Dynamics. Under Ireland's EirGrid code MPID345, large demand facilities — data centers among them — will have to stay connected through fault events rather than tripping off. After voltage recovery, they must restore 90 percent of pre-fault power. The deadline is 500 milliseconds. ABB's answer is a compact, modular platform that sits behind the meter and pairs ultracapacitors with grid-forming power conversion and digital control.

The company says the system reacts in milliseconds and requires no redesign of existing electrical infrastructure. Conventional UPS units, diesel generators, and protection schemes isolate a facility from a disturbance; ABB's pitch is stabilization without taking the data center offline.

Data centers now consume about 24 percent of the country's electricity. ABB expects that share to reach 30 percent by 2032. Load shed during fault events stood at 74 MW in January 2022. It reached 387 MW by May 2025. That growth helps explain why EirGrid made active support a requirement. Lee Todd, ABB's vice president for energy and carbon services, calls it a radical change in what the grid demands of data center operators: when large loads drop at once, the resulting frequency excursion can cascade across the system.

For investors underwriting data center power, the product points to a new equipment market driven by compliance. Todd says Spain and Texas are set to follow Ireland's lead, though he gives no timeline. If that spread happens, behind-the-meter fault support becomes a line item in data center electrical costs, and vendors able to sell fast response into the grid get a new revenue stream.

The report omits commercial details: no pricing, no availability date, no reference customer. The product is built for a rule that isn't fully in force yet, and the gap between code and enforcement is where procurement decisions will land.