Making data centres invest in enough renewable energy and battery storage to fully power their operations is one step closer to reality, after an agreement between the Federal Energy Minister and all but one state and territory.
The odd one out was Queensland. Why?
💰 A big bet: A coalition of industry, union, environmental and community groups argues the burgeoning and potentially highly lucrative data centre industry is putting the nation’s shift to renewable energy at risk.
As the nation rapidly adopts renewable energy with wind, hydro, and solar farms across the country, personal rooftop solar and home batteries are also being installed in millions of households.
But according to the Climate Change Authority, which advises the government on climate change policy, the current electricity demand of data centres is “contributing to higher emissions than anticipated”.
Data centres can potentially run on 100 percent renewable energy, but if demand outweighs available supply they draw on power generated by fossil fuels.
📝 The meeting: National Cabinet's Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council met in Melbourne on May 8 and, among other things, discussed their expectations of data centres and AI infrastructure developers.
They directed the federal Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), which describes itself as the “rule maker” on Australian electricity and gas markets, to provide advice on how governments can force data centres to invest in renewable energy and batteries, to make up for their energy consumption.
Queensland rejected the idea from the outset, with that state’s Energy Minister David Janetzki telling the National Account in a statement the government expected to see more details before committing to any national proposal.
💽 What is a data centre? Australia has more than 270 data centres, which house the infrastructure necessary to make instant data transmission — i.e. the internet — work, in a highly controlled environment that ensures efficiency and prevents overheating or blackouts.
Operating and cooling these systems chews up vast energy resources.
🤠 Queensland: There are 31 data centres in the Sunshine State, and its energy minister is not keen to agree to mandating that they invest in enough renewable energy to power their use.
The coalition of federal, state and territory representatives has requested detailed advice from the AEMC on how such a policy could be implemented.
However, Janetzki said: “Further work is needed before imposing under-developed national proposals to advance other policy objectives.”