Tasmania sets $3,000 a MW fund for AI data centres, run by operators

ABC News reported that Rockliff and Industry Minister Felix Ellis spoke at the press conference of a single fund governed by “local people” and “local representatives”. They did not say there would be several funds or that the companies themselves would control them, according to the ABC. Pulse Tasmania reported Ellis saying community groups could seek grants for things like sporting clubs, environmental work, and skills and training.

Pulse Tasmania reported the premier’s message to developers bluntly: if they will not abide by the rules, “take your data centre elsewhere”. Ellis rejected suggestions the payment is a tax or a broken election promise.

The numbers

Pulse Tasmania reported that operators of facilities above 20 megawatts will have to contribute a minimum of $3,000 per megawatt of contracted firm demand each year to a local community benefit fund. ABC News described the rate as $3,000 per megawatt of contracted energy each year, payable once a facility is operational. Ellis gave the example of a 100-megawatt data centre, which would owe its local community at least $300,000 annually.

ABC News applied the rate to Firmus, which it described as Tasmania’s largest data centre proponent. Its 104MW facility at St Leonards would contribute $312,000 a year. Firmus also proposes a 40MW centre at Wesley Vale in the north-west (earlier coverage of the Wesley Vale inquiry) and a 288MW centre at Long Reach, near Bell Bay, ABC News reported. The outlet did not publish a contribution figure for those two.

Pulse Tasmania reported that under the statement, payments rise with inflation, run for as long as the facility operates and carry over to any new owner. A review of the fund is due after five years. ABC News reported that the statement outlines “transparent governance arrangements” and requires public reporting.

The same statement covers more than the fund. Pulse Tasmania reported that developers must also team up with new Tasmanian renewable energy projects, either directly or via Hydro Tasmania, and cover the cost of their own grid connections and upgrades. Quarterly energy and water use reporting will go through a new government data portal.

What’s next

The payments will not be written into legislation. Pulse Tasmania reported that every developer will sign an agreement with the government, and the statement says this lets the state enforce the commitments. Ellis said the government will seek agreement with the data centre proponents. ABC News reported that the government says the expectations will be binding.

For Firmus the fund lands while it is also contesting a planning condition. Pulse Tasmania reported that it is appealing a George Town Council condition that restricts the 276 backup diesel generators planned for its Bell Bay site to emergency use. The statement says diesel generators are meant strictly as genuine backup, not for everyday running.

Federal legislation due early next year is expected to set out how data centres must prove their renewable energy credentials, according to Energy and Renewables Minister Nick Duigan as reported by Pulse Tasmania.