Australia's new data centres must be majority renewable powered: Energy Minister, Chris Bowen

Australia's Energy Minister Chris Bowen warned on Wednesday that plans by the Northern Territory to utilize its shale gas resources for powering data centres would conflict with national standards. These standards require data centres to primarily use renewable energy sources rather than drawing power from the grid. Both Queensland and the Northern Territory have previously supported using gas-fired power for data centres.

According to Bowen, if a data centre relies solely on gas, it will not meet the minimum national requirements and cannot be registered. He made these remarks in response to a Reuters inquiry following his announcement of a new rooftop solar scheme at a National Press Club address. The Northern Territory had recently allocated 185 hectares of land near Darwin to Beetaloo Digital for constructing a 2-gigawatt data centre, which it aims to power using gas from shale reserves in the Beetaloo sub-Basin.

Beetaloo Energy, the parent company, estimated that generating 1 gigawatt of power would necessitate 200 terajoules of gas per day. This amounts to a daily consumption of 84 terajoules for Shell's coal seam gas development in Queensland, which is currently under development. Beetaloo spokesperson declined to comment directly on Bowen's remarks, but emphasized that the data centre could potentially attract up to A$40 billion in private investment.

Reports from the Climate Change Authority indicate that Australia may not achieve its 2035 target of reducing carbon emissions by 62% to 70% compared to 2005 levels without considering the impact of large new projects. Bowen suggested that gas power could play a role in firming up or supporting intermittent renewable energy supply, but it should remain largely inactive.