Datacentres should be forced to invest in wind and solar energy, agree all states except Queensland | Renewable energy
Energy-hungry data centers that are expanding to meet the demands of artificial intelligence may be forced to invest in enough new solar and wind generation to completely cover their electricity needs.
State and federal energy ministers agreed at a meeting last week that data centers across the country should “fully offset” their electricity demand with investments in new renewable energy generation and energy storage.
The initiative, supported by all ministers except Queensland, also says data centers should provide “demand flexibility services” – measures that allow a data center to control the amount of electricity drawn from the grid.
There is growing opposition to the rise of large data centers, particularly when they are built in residential areas.
As well as requiring large amounts of electricity, the centers will also put pressure on water supplies for cooling.
At the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council meeting, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) was also asked to advise ministers by July on how to implement their calls to manage data center electricity needs.
Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said data centers were a key driver of new energy demand and ministers wanted to “make them an asset to the energy network, not a constraint”.
He said: “If data centers want to benefit from Australia’s energy network, we believe they should do their part to strengthen it – and it’s clear the overwhelming majority of states agree. »
Queensland Energy Minister David Janetzki, who is also State Treasurer, said: “Queensland’s ongoing commitment is to make affordability and reliability the foundation of our energy system and that means we expect to know the details of the costs, benefits and risks before agreeing to any national proposals that impact Queensland’s energy system and the electricity bills of Queenslanders.
“More work is needed before imposing underdeveloped national proposals to advance other policy goals and I look forward to considering [Australian Energy regulator] and AEMC guidance which is expected to be finalized later this year.
In March, the government published a set of “expectations” for data centers, saying they should support the country’s transition to renewable energy, use water sustainably and support the national interest.
Data from Peak Body Data Centers Australia indicates that the country’s 162 data centers currently have an operational capacity of 1.4 gigawatts which is expected to more than double to 3.2 GW by 2030.
Australia’s energy market operator predicts the amount of electricity used by data centers will triple by 2030. AEMO says data centers currently use around 2% of the main east coast market’s electricity.
Data Centers Australia chief executive Belinda Dennett said it was “unclear” how the federal government’s expectations would be taken into account when states assessed the proposals.
“Any political uncertainty creates investment risk,” she said.
“Data center operators and their customers already support Australia’s energy system and are enablers of the energy transition, offsetting 70% of their energy consumption by signing long-term off-take agreements with renewable energy projects and providing large-scale generation certificates on the open market.
“There is a strong ambition to offset 100% of energy consumption, but this requires the availability of viable renewable energy projects. »
A study commissioned by the group suggests the industry has invested $3.1 billion, between 2020 and 2025, in energy infrastructure, with an additional $7.2 billion expected by 2030.
