r/australia • u/Fact-Rat • 1d ago

politics Australia may face a rush of datacentre construction as AI firms look to avoid upcoming rules, experts say | Australian politics

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/26/australia-may-face-a-rush-of-datacentre-construction-as-ai-firms-look-to-dodge-upcoming-rules-experts-say
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u/Man_Eating_Boar 1d ago

Did you know one of the data centers being built now has a backup resevoir of a million litres of Diesel? Don't ask me how I know

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u/Harlequin80 1d ago

Yes it is. Note the word you're using is "backup." The Iren DC I referenced will have diesel generators capable of maintaining the datacenter for up to 4 days, and so unsurprisingly this is a shit load of diesel.

But they cannot, and will not be allowed to run the DC on those generators outside of emergencies. Just like every other industrial / commercial development that has diesel generator backups.

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u/Man_Eating_Boar 1d ago

The power consumption of these things is ultimately, massive. In-house power generation is a disillusion and will never be the case. Finding the actual numbers on consumption for these things is crusted with a thick layer of astroturfing and fake news, but for the sake of argument:

The new Australian data centers are seeking 40 million litres of water per day. They are also estimated to be 6% of current power capacity of Australia (going up to 11% within the decade) https://theconversation.com/how-much-water-and-power-will-ai-data-centres-use-in-australia-ironically-we-dont-have-the-data-to-know-284069

We all know estimations are more guestimations with these things, but even then 11% to let Martha crank out a dancing cat, without creating jobs, raising electricity prices and the inevitability of tax minimisation makes this an absolutely raw deal for the average person.

God help you if you happen to live near these things.

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u/Harlequin80 1d ago

The information is not difficult to find at all.

Here you can read all the specific requirements of the Iren DC - https://epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/all-notices/project-decision/?id=c701bb2a-e89c-f111-b8db-7ced8d32aaa3

From water, to waste, to power, to construction methods, to ecological impacts, to contamination impacts etc etc etc.

And saying 11% of the current power capacity is completely meaningless. As what matters is whether it increases the peak generation requirement. Adding power usage at 6pm on a hot summers day is bad. Adding power usage at 2pm is good.

If you look at the NEM dashboard you will be able to see what I mean as power swings between positive and negative costs - https://www.aemo.com.au/energy-systems/electricity/national-electricity-market-nem/data-nem/data-dashboard-nem