Google-backed data centre operator Terawulf has said Ireland is on the table as a location for its first European data centre.

The firm, which has a market capitalisation of $11.34 (€9.375) billion, is a leading builder and operator of AI factories built for hyperscale companies like Fluidstack, a high-performance AI cloud platform that is used by Anthropic.

To date, Terawulf has received over $3.2 billion from Google to support the group’s large-scale data centre build-outs. The tech giant has also been increasing its stake in the Nasdaq-listed firm, now owning 14 per cent.

In an interview with the Business Post, Nazar Khan, chief technology officer at Terawulf, said the company is “looking for a site” in Europe and would consider Ireland as a potential location.

“We are looking at entering Europe as we speak. If Ireland has a site available, we would love to enter the market,” he said when asked if the firm would ever consider expanding into the country.

While Khan said that Terawulf has not looked at a site yet in Ireland, it is actively searching in mainland Europe and the UK.

Khan was speaking to the publication during a tour of the company’s 720-megawatt (MW) data centre on Lake Mariner in Buffalo, New York.

The chief technology officer was bullish on the European market, despite saying it is unlikely to ever match the AI spend of the US, given that it is a much larger market with more installed energy capacity.

The US leads the world in AI spending, with American tech companies committing between $650 billion and $750 billion in infrastructure and capital expenditure alone.

“The total power installed base in the US is three times what’s in all of Europe,” he said, pointing out that for that reason alone, Europe will never have as many megawatts installed as the US.

“Will it [Europe] have a meaningful penetration of [AI]?” he asked. “I think it is possible and it will likely happen over time,” he added.

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