SA Energy Minister backs gas to firm power for data centres

The ABC noted that the government’s Data Centre Strategy, released just under five months ago, focused on promoting the state’s renewable energy sector. The strategy’s pitch was that the state could supply clean energy for the AI boom at scale and on time.

Mr Koutsantonis said data centres need large amounts of energy continuously, and that gas could firm, or guarantee, their ongoing electricity when solar and wind output drops. He said the government backs gas firming for data centres just as it does for the renewable system today.

The ABC also reported that, the strategy expects new data centres to source their own electricity.

The numbers

The ABC pointed to the proposals now in play across regional South Australia.

• Tungkillo, Adelaide Hills: Quantum DC announced on 12 November it was pausing plans for a 1,200-megawatt data centre. The ABC said the company had earlier estimated about 20 per cent of the energy it needed would come from a gas power station on a section of its 220-hectare Adelaide Hills block, with renewables supplying the rest.
• Bundey, near Robertstown (Mid North): Australian company Iren has proposed a $10 billion, 800-megawatt facility.
• Tailem Bend and Port Augusta: the ABC said AI company Firmus previously announced plans for data centres near both towns.

The ABC said plans are underway for at least four major data centres in South Australia, counting Tungkillo and three others.

What’s next

The ABC’s In short summary says plans remain underway for at least four major data centres in the state. A second ABC report on 12 November said the state government is preparing legislation to regulate the industry, and that minor parties have called for South Australia to halt approvals for new centres.

The same report said the SA Greens went further and called for a data centre moratorium after Quantum DC’s Tungkillo pause. We covered the earlier Tungkillo fight separately.

The ABC text available to us does not say whether any proposal has lodged a planning application that relies on gas, or what rules the coming legislation would set for on-site power. This article reports only what the ABC stated.