data centres Archives

Commentary

Energy Colossus: AI is on a huge learning curve – and it could fuel a tripling in power demand
AI capability improvement requires more brute compute power for training runs, and that means more megawatts. No wonder Anthropic is paying $US15 billion a year to SpaceX for its Colossus.
David Leitch

Aug 11, 2026

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Solar

Thermal battery company chasing 1 GW data centre deal for site once earmarked for giant solar towers
The site which was going to host the iterations of Australia’s concentrated solar power dream may now be the home of a data centre.
Rachel Williamson

Aug 3, 2026

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Renewables

“I would choose the data centre:” Renewable energy boss says firm off-taker deals preferable to CIS
Renewable energy developer says contracts with data centres offer more certainty than CIS, while grid manager says it isn’t “scared” of the sector anymore.
Rachel Williamson

Aug 3, 2026

2
Renewables

Data giant says its happy with renewable mandate, but Queensland and NT snub Canberra and go for gas
Queensland wants data centres to be powered by gas, while NSW is already planning for a renewables-powered sector.
Rachel Williamson

Jul 29, 2026

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$Government backs “disaster proposal” to power 2 GW hyperscale data centre with fracked Beetaloo gas$

Policy & Planning

Government backs “disaster proposal” to power 2 GW hyperscale data centre with fracked Beetaloo gas
NT government has set aside land for the $40 billion gas-powered AI ambitions of ASX-listed miner Beetaloo Energy, which could burn up to 200 TJ / day of fracked gas power generation.
Sophie Vorrath

Jul 22, 2026

1
Utilities

Network wars: Ausgrid demands lower transmissions fees as data centres gatecrash the grid
Australia’s biggest DNSP is not happy that Transgrid is maxing out its network capacity, and not passing on cost savings, or talking to its new “peers” about planning.
Rachel Williamson

Jul 20, 2026

1
Policy & Planning

Network seeks to charge data centres for full grid connection capacity, whether they use it or not
Transmission network pushes for rule change that would see large energy users pay for their full connection capacity to the grid whether they use all of that capacity, or not.
Rachel Williamson

Jul 3, 2026

0
Renewables

Plan to power off-grid data centre with solar, gas and a 16 gigawatt-hour battery seeks federal green tick
Project Ares wants to build a 1 GW data centre on a cattle station on Australia’s Top End and power it with 3 GW of solar and a 16 GWh battery. It also wants to build a giga-scale gas plant.
Rachel Williamson

Jul 1, 2026

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Energy Colossus: AI is on a huge learning curve – and it could fuel a tripling in power demand

Thermal battery company chasing 1 GW data centre deal for site once earmarked for giant solar towers

“I would choose the data centre:” Renewable energy boss says firm off-taker deals preferable to CIS

Data giant says its happy with renewable mandate, but Queensland and NT snub Canberra and go for gas

Government backs “disaster proposal” to power 2 GW hyperscale data centre with fracked Beetaloo gas

Network wars: Ausgrid demands lower transmissions fees as data centres gatecrash the grid

Network seeks to charge data centres for full grid connection capacity, whether they use it or not

Plan to power off-grid data centre with solar, gas and a 16 gigawatt-hour battery seeks federal green tick

Most popular.

Networks brace for solar eclipse that threatens to cut power generation by 9.7 GW

Licences sought for Australia’s biggest wind, solar and battery hybrid to power giant gold mines

Pakistan’s citizen-led solar rush: Where panels power education and health – and are gifted in dowries

Plans for one of Australia’s biggest new gas plants sail through EPBC queue in just over two weeks

Podcasts

SwitchedOn podcast: Biggest barrier to electrifying apartments? Knowing what’s possible

Energy Insiders Podcast: Will data centres make or break wind?

The Driven Podcast: More small cars arrive as EV sales stay big

SwitchedOn podcast: How I electrified – the apartment owner who refused to accept ‘no’ for an answer