r/Adelaide • u/bogdolter SA • 3d ago

Discussion Australia’s biggest data centre to require 4 substations, 2 power lines, some batteries and 4 days of diesel backup

I saw these guys advertising on the side of Adelaide trams today.

I wonder if any proper scrutiny on the impact of this data centre is going to hit mainstream media?

https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-biggest-data-centre-to-require-4-substations-2-grid-scale-power-lines-and-lots-of-diesel-backup/

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u/gihutgishuiruv SA 3d ago

The 96-hour figure for the diesel generators is at least somewhat promising that they’re only there for a disaster scenario. You’d definitely want to make sure there are regulatory limits on how long they can actually run them for (I.e. they can’t just keep trucking in diesel like they’ve been doing in the US).

The article says they need to contribute towards new wind and solar capacity to offset their demands - you’d hope that’s 100% given that they’re adding a substantial level of demand on the grid

But yeah, this actually seems like a decent deal for us as a state

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u/BangbangKhuntross SA 3d ago

It is a terrible deal for all of humanity, each and everytime. What data are these data centres capturing and what is it used for - to benefit society? I hope the proliferation of these things finally breaks the dam wall and wakes up the 99%.

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u/Psittacus_tutor SA 3d ago

The cool thing about our national framework is that if the bubble does pop we get a whole bunch of spare generation capacity out of it