Electrical systems manufacturer ABB has launched a new ultracapacitor energy storage solution for real-time, coordinated grid support in Irish data centers.

According to ABB, the system is designed to help Ireland’s data centers meet a new EirGrid grid code requirement for active grid support during fault conditions.

Known as MPID345, it will require large demand facilities, including data centers, to stay connected to the grid during fault events rather than disconnecting. Once voltage recovers, affected facilities must restore 90 percent of their pre-fault power demand within 500 milliseconds.

ABB’s solution will combine its ultracapacitor energy storage with grid-forming power conversion and digital control in a compact, modular, behind-the-meter platform. The company said the system is designed to respond to grid disturbances in milliseconds without requiring data centers to redesign existing electrical infrastructure.

It claims that unlike conventional backup systems such as UPS units, diesel generators, and protection schemes, which isolate facilities from grid events, the platform allows facilities to actively stabilize the grid while maintaining operational continuity.

ABB said the new system will mitigate the growing impact data centers are having on the Irish grid.

Data centers in the Emerald Isle currently consume approximately 24 percent of the country’s total electricity supply, a figure the company said is expected to reach 30 percent by 2032. As a result, ABB said that load reduction seen during grid fault events in Ireland has grown from 74MW in January 2022 to 387MW in May 2025.

“This is a radical change in what the national grid demands of Ireland’s data center operators,” said Lee Todd, vice president of energy and carbon services, electrification service at ABB. “When large loads shed simultaneously during a disturbance, the resulting power imbalance can drive frequency excursions that cascade across the entire grid. That is why the country’s data center operators will be required to provide grid support. And while Ireland is leading the way, other countries such as Spain and the US State of Texas are set to follow.”