Irish high-tech construction and engineering companies are collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to deliver data centre projects in both Ireland and the United States, positioning Ireland's built environment sector at the centre of global digital infrastructure investment.

RTÉ reported that Enterprise Ireland and Amazon hosted a business breakfast in Washington DC on 16 March to advance the partnership, coinciding with the Taoiseach's St Patrick's Day visit to the US.

One of the firms involved, CEL Critical Power, has invested $40m (€36.8m) to open a 400,000 sq ft manufacturing plant in Williamsburg, Virginia, creating 250 high-skilled jobs with plans to scale to 500 employees by 2030.

Jenny Melia, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, said the US is Ireland's third largest export market after Europe and the UK, with exports to the US growing 8% in 2024 and Irish companies investing $389bn (€358.5bn) in the US that year.

Melia said uncertainty from the current US tariffs regime is never helpful for businesses, particularly smaller firms, and described Enterprise Ireland's role as using market experts on the ground to provide real-time insights and local knowledge to help companies stay close to their customers.

On the environmental pressures facing the data centre sector, Melia said Irish firms are bringing energy-efficient and water-efficient solutions to projects in the US, pointing to ambitions in Texas to become the leading state for data centres as a key opportunity for Irish contractors and engineers offering more sustainable approaches.

Enterprise Ireland noted that Ireland is the fifth largest investor in the United States, underscoring the strategic weight of the Irish construction and engineering sector's growing transatlantic presence in the data centre and digital infrastructure market.

Access the full report on the Irish construction and engineering partnership with Amazon.