Commonwealth says it will block gas-fired data centres

• The federal government plans to prevent data centres from relying entirely on gas-fired power, instead requiring renewable energy and appropriate firming arrangements under new national standards.
• The Northern Territory government has criticised the proposal as federal overreach, arguing the NT should be able to use its Beetaloo Basin gas resources to attract major AI data centres and investment.
• A proposed $40 billion data centre near Darwin could potentially partner with renewable energy projects, but its developer has not specified how much renewable power would be used.

Northern Territory government minister Josh Burgoyne has accused the Commonwealth of “overreach”, after the federal government said it would block the development of gas-powered data centres.

The federal government plans to mandate the use of renewables and establish a national renewable energy offset policy for data centres, but this has been rejected by the NT and Queensland.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen yesterday said the new laws would not permit any data centre proposal which relied entirely on gas, even if it overruled state or territory approvals.

“If a data centre is proposed to only use gas, it will not meet the minimum national standards. And, it won’t be able to register and it won’t be able to proceed,” he said.

The NT government supports a gas-fired data centre boom, powered by the development of gas fields in the Beetaloo Basin, and Mr Burgoyne told the Country Hour the NT should be left to govern itself.

“It’s federal government overreach, in the Territory we have a right to govern ourselves,” he said.

“What they are doing is overstepping into our territory and basically telling Territorians what they can and can’t do…

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Original article and photo by "ABC News"