🤷 WHAT HAPPENED? The federal government says it now has expectations when it comes to new data centres opening in Australia.
These standards don’t stop projects from being approved, but do give those closest aligned the most attention.
🤔 EXPECTATIONS: Minister for Industry and Innovation Tim Ayres announced the expectations on Monday, outlining data centre companies looking to enter the country would have more success if they:
Prioritise Australia’s national interest
Support Australia’s energy transition
Use water sustainably and responsibly
Invest in Australian skills and jobs
Strengthen research, innovation and local capability
The closer a proposed data centre aligns with these expectations the higher priority the government says it will get when it comes to regulatory assessments.
🇦🇺 NATIONAL INTEREST: The new standards mean data centres are expected to operate for the benefit of the Australian economy, people and their local communities.
Centres need to operate with minimal side effects on their communities and build a good relationship with them. They also need to keep our data safe.
⚡️ENERGY: Projects that don’t make the energy grid work harder to accommodate them will be looked on more favourably than others. Data centres use a lot of energy and could put a strain on the grid if no extra power generation is also built.
New centres that create more renewables and batteries, as well as cover the costs of building poles and wires, will also be bumped up to the top of the queue.
The more efficient these centres are, the less pollution and impact they create.
💧WATER: Very similar to energy expectations, new data centres that work responsibly with current water users and First Nations peoples to find the best places to source water get a big green tick.
At the same time, they’ll be rewarded if they can use as little water as possible and find ways to adapt to drought and climate change.
👷 JOBS: New centres will be prioritised if they employ locals and pay them well. After they’re built, the operators are encouraged to help train new people to work there, like apprenticeships.
They’re also expected to play nice with the unions, local, state and federal governments, education and training providers, and other employers to address skills gaps.
🧠 THINKING BIG: The government wants these centres to help Australia’s smartest minds by giving Australian start-ups, innovative small businesses, researchers and not-for-profits a good deal on computing power.
🗞️ REACTION: There is some cautious support for the Government’s plan.
The Carbon Zero Initiative’s Alex Hoysted commended the federal government for having some standards, but told the National Account he was concerned about the state government response.
🗣️ “Most data centre approvals are done at a state level, we really would have welcomed a little bit more oversight on those approval processes at a federal level,” he said.
💰 COUGH UP: Senator David Pocock said he’s looking forward to seeing more details on the government’s expectations and said, “we need to make sure multinational tech giants wanting to build [data centres] here pay tax.”