New Coal-Fired Power Station Proposed to Support $32bn Data Centre
A proposed $32 billion data centre in Queensland's Darling Downs has sparked calls for a new coal-fired power station to help meet its massive energy needs. The facility, to be built near Dalby, has secured a deal with AI giant Anthropic and is expected to draw as much power as 1.5 million average Australian households.
Queensland is poised to host the country's largest data centre, a $32 billion hub proposed for the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane. The facility, to be built near Dalby by Singaporean developer Zerra DC, has already secured a deal with AI giant Anthropic, which plans to start using the centre from 2027.
Nationals MP David Littleproud has called for the development of a new coal-fired power station to help bolster the power needed for the massive project. According to Mr Littleproud, a duplication of the 750MW Kogan Creek Power Station would be necessary to power the proposed data centre, which could draw as much power as 1.5 million average Australian households.
“We're getting to a point where technology is outstripping energy supply, and what we're going to have to do is be bold enough and courageous enough to look to what the rest of the world is doing,” he said.
The proposed data centre is expected to use “effectively six Olympic swimming pools” worth of water every year. While Mr Littleproud has received assurances in writing regarding the project's water usage, he expressed concern that if these assurances change, he will have to reevaluate his support.
The project is expected to deliver about 1,500 jobs during the construction phase and 1,400 ongoing jobs, with Mr Littleproud stating that “this is a significant investment for the people of the Western Downs.”
Concerns from Other MPs
Katter's Australia Party MP Robbie Katter has expressed frustration that the government is not prioritizing the needs of existing industries in the region. “We're starved of cheap and reliable energy out in the north west mineral province right now and we're not allowed to touch our water supplies for agriculture,” Mr Katter said.
He also raised concerns about the lack of regulation in the AI space, stating that it “sends shivers down your spine.”
Call for Proactive Planning
Nicole Bennetts, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Planning Institute of Australia, emphasized the need for proactive planning to deal with the cumulative impact of data centres on Australia's land, infrastructure, and energy. She called for a nationally consistent approach to determining the suitability of large-scale data centres.
“We're calling for a nationally consistent approach for what makes a well located, large-scale data centre,” she said. “We need to move Australia from responding to data centres proposal by proposal, and proactively plan for the places the digital economy will need.”