Responding to the announcement of Anthropic’s deal with Zerra’s Western Downs Digital Park in Queensland, Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said:
“This single facility could use three times more power than the 1.4 million residents of Brisbane, pushing up expensive and harmful coal and gas generation and adding an extra 6.6 million tonnes of climate pollution a year. That’s like putting more than two million extra cars on the roads.
“This is exactly why Australia needs clear national rules: Every new data centre in Australia must be required to bring enough new, additional clean energy to meet its demand.
“The rules must apply to projects already in the pipeline – or massive proposals like this one will slip through the cracks, leaving households and existing industries to compete with the world's biggest tech companies for power. Modelling shows this could push up wholesale power prices by at least 13 percent in Queensland.
“Queenslanders are on the frontlines of climate change, facing some of the most significant, fastest-growing risks in the country as coal, oil and gas keep heating our atmosphere. Rising seas and storm surge alone could cost the state $214.5 billion by the end of the century. Yet the Queensland Government is choosing big tech and fossil fuel profits over its own community.”
Background:
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The 1.44 GW Zerra data centre would be positioned near existing energy infrastructure in the Western Downs region, including three gas-fired power stations as well as renewables.
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The facility would connect to the grid, but would also install a battery on-site to manage fluctuations in electricity demand and support the grid.
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The emissions from the project have been estimated using Queensland’s current National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting electricity emissions factor of 0.65 kg CO₂-e/kWh. Operating at an 80% utilisation, that level of electricity demand (10 TWH) is three times more than the 1.4 million residents of the city of Brisbane (between 2.55 - 3.35 TWh / year).
Talent available:
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie
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