Northern Territory data centres will have to use renewable energy as their primary source of power or will not proceed, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Wednesday, adding natural gas will only be used as a backup and that he will invoke all Federal Government powers available to enforce the new rules.
The federal minister’s comments come as the Finocchiaro Government recently rejected the proposed national standards for data centres, claiming up to 12 data centre developers have been in contact about building projects in the Territory, including a proposal by gas company Beetaloo Energy for a claimed massive $40 billion, two-gigawatt AI data centre and energy precinct at Weddell, powered by gas generation from the Beetaloo Sub-basin.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra today, Mr Bowen delivered an address titled ‘Energy Security in an Uncertain World’, outlining the Federal Government’s new requirements for data centres and warned he will “not be standing by and letting a race to the bottom” of states and territory’s trying to attract data centres at any cost.
The Commonwealth plans will require large AI data centres to bring new renewable energy online to match their electricity use, prove they have sufficient backup power, and pay the costs of any new transmission infrastructure they require rather than passing those costs on to households.
The proposed national framework would also encourage data centres to reduce electricity use during periods of high demand and allow them to meet renewable energy obligations through measures such as power purchase agreements or direct investment in new renewable generation.
The NT’s rejection of the national framework was raised with the Minister.
“While I always prefer to work with my state and territory colleagues, the Commonwealth will not be standing by and letting a race to the bottom of states falling over themselves to attract data centres, at the cost to household bills, reliability or emissions,” Mr Bowen said.
“We will use all the powers available to the Commonwealth, including Commonwealth legislation, to ensure that Australian households and Australian energy reliability is put first, even if some states have different ideas.”
He was asked whether this meant the proposed NT data centres were “dead in the water”.
“I don’t want to appear too antagonistic towards the Northern Territory Government but to state a factual statement: If a data centre is proposed to only use gas it will not meet the minimum national standards and it won’t be allowed to register and it will not be allowed to proceed. That’s a statement of fact,” Mr Bowen said.
“We will require new data centres to be powered by new renewables. We do recognise a role for gas in the backup, the firming options and I think that’s sensible.
“Again, I don’t think it will be called on very often and the beauty of a gas-fired power station is when it’s turned off it’s zero emissions and they can be turned off for a long time.”
Ms Finocchiaro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment or explain if she believed Mr Bowen’s comments threatened the NT’s data centres as proposed.
Arid Lands Environment Centre anti-fracking campaigner Hannah Ekin said Mr Bowen’s statements made it clear that Beetaloo Energy’s proposed fracked gas-powered data centre will not pass federal regulations.
“Fracked gas-fuelled data centres would be a disaster for the NT’s climate and water and people across the NT are already raising the alarm,” Ms Ekin said.
“Bowen’s comments today show that Beetaloo Energy and the NT Government are out on their own in promoting this polluting gas-fired data centre pipe dream.
“As the NT Government makes a ridiculous push for no rules for data centres, ignoring community concerns, it is a relief to hear Bowen rule out purely gas-fired data centres and reiterate that data centre construction cannot come at the cost of rising emissions.
“We implore the feds to rule out the use of fracked gas for data centres and ensure our precious water and biodiversity are protected from this industry gold rush.”
Beetaloo Digital, a subsidiary of Beetaloo Energy, was given a commitment for 185 hectares of land at Weddell by the CLP Government, about 30km south of Darwin, with the company stating the centre will be powered by up to two gigawatts of “on-site gas-fired generation”, with gas supplied via pipeline from its Beetaloo fracking operations.
The 2GW data centre has been estimated to consume enough electricity to supply between 1.5 and 2 million homes each year and follows Energy North’s Project Ares, which aims to set up a one gigawatt facility at Murranji station in the Barkly region.
Energy North says Project Ares will be powered by an off-grid energy system combining up to 3,000 MW of solar generation, 16 GWh of battery storage and up to 1,038 MW of gas-fired generation. The company says gas will provide firming to ensure round-the-clock reliability while the project progressively increases its reliance on renewable energy.
However, Darwin-based environmental activist Justin Tutty, who works in cloud computing, said Project Ares would demand twice the generating capacity of the network that runs the Darwin-Katherine grid.
While the project has been referred for assessment under national environment law, Mr Tutty said there was no detail on how often the gas generator would be used. He estimated it could burn between 30 and 40 petajoules of gas a year, comparable to the gas use of the Gove alumina refinery at Nhulunbuy, which has historically been one of the Territory’s largest gas users.
Lia will be LIVID!!!
If only the Feds would invoke their powers to enforce a few other things in this broken jurisdiction .
Typical of power crazed Bowen. He will do anything for his net zero zealotry.
On Ares, the report of:
“up to 3,000 MW of solar generation, 16 GWh of battery storage and up to 1,038 MW of gas-fired generation.”
deserves a minor correction: that’s 3,000 MWp of solar; the ‘p’ meaning peak.
Unlike the methane turbines, which can run full bore all day, the solar panels hit their peak output in the middle of the day, producing nothing at night, and somewhere in between during daylight.
Power generation has three modes: baseload (always on); regular (daily schedule); and firming (responsive to variability). In the project Ares configuration, the battery is the firming; the panels are regular; and the gas is almost large enough to be baseload.
Gas at Ares isn’t firming, but rather a co-primary. It isn’t backup, but a regular requirement. The one box it does tick is ‘not a net user’. Simply because it is so huge, all of this activity has no bearing on existing electricity consumers. But that cuts both ways: with all that solar behind the wire, none of it can displace any existing dirty power elsewhere in the Territory.
Mr Bowen clearly said “gas has a role to play”, but would not be pressed on percentages, and it remains to be seen what standards will apply to off-grid infra. A focus on generating more renewable energy could still drive massive new carbon emissions in the NT.