Moss Vale and the big questions facing Australia's data centre boom
As data centres grow, Moss Vale asks how we power them
A proposed 673MW gas-fired power station at Moss Vale is raising questions about how Australia’s growing data centre industry will be powered and regulated as governments develop new rules for the sector.
Around 400 people packed Moss Vale RSL on Sunday for a community meeting organised by Stop the Gas Plant, as concern grows about plans for the Southern Highlands Data Campus natural gas-fired generation halls, or gas plant.
Cloud Carrier has already built one data centre at the site and says it plans to develop a 67-hectare Southern Highlands Data Campus, including gas-fired generation capable of providing up to 673MW of power.
Federal Member for Whitlam Carol Berry, who attended the meeting, said the scale of the proposal had taken the community by surprise.
“I have had a lot of people reach out to me about this, and I’ve spoken to a lot of people in the community about it as well,” she said.
“I have not heard one person who says that they support it.”
Ms Berry said she opposed the current proposal because of both its scale and reliance on gas-fired generation.
But she said the questions being raised in Moss Vale went beyond one development, as governments considered how Australia could capture the economic opportunities created by growing demand for data infrastructure while establishing appropriate safeguards.
“One of our expectations from the Federal Government perspective is that we make sure that these large data centres are built in appropriate locations and in consultation with the local community,” Ms Berry said.
“In order for Australia to take advantage of this economic opportunity and for us to have sovereign capability in relation to data and data usage, it’s in our national interest that we continue to have a really robust conversation with the community about data and the future of data centres.”
The Federal Government has outlined expectations for large data centres, including around energy and water use, which Ms Berry said would be converted into legislation to be introduced early next year.
The government wants the expansion of the sector to support Australia’s transition to renewable energy, with Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen saying earlier this year: “Clean energy is not a barrier to data centres. It is an essential ingredient.”
According to documents lodged with NSW Planning on behalf of Nakar Property, alternative energy generation options including solar, wind, batteries, biogas and hydrogen-gas hybrid systems were considered for the project.
“While each had merit, they were not capable of providing the immediate large-scale, dispatchable supply required to ensure the reliability of the Southern Highlands Data Campus,” the report said.
The Pulse Illawarra contacted Cloud Carrier for comment.
Ms Berry has raised the Moss Vale proposal with NSW Planning Minister and Member for Wollongong Paul Scully and said state and federal governments were discussing how emerging national expectations would be implemented.
“If I was a data centre proponent, I would be listening carefully to the messaging coming from the Prime Minister and from Chris Bowen and other relevant ministers around what our national expectations are and what is likely to be in that legislation,” she said.
Mr Scully said the proposal was at the earliest stages of the planning process and the NSW Government was committed to growing the data centre sector responsibly.
“The Minns Labor Government is committed to growing the sector responsibly by using planning controls to make sure data centres are delivering the water and power infrastructure they need to operate sustainably,” he said.
“The Government does not support a data centre moratorium. Challenges presented by this infrastructure are best dealt with through sensible planning decisions.”
Mr Scully said the government had released its NSW Data Centre Consultation Paper earlier this year and would soon release the NSW Data Centre Policy Framework.
Ms Berry said she would write to Cloud Carrier seeking a meeting to discuss concerns being raised by the Southern Highlands community.
Stop the Gas Plant campaign organiser Kylie Roberts-Frost said the group was not seeking to stop the development of Australia’s data centre industry, but wanted clearer frameworks around how large facilities were powered and their impact on host communities.
“AI is not going away. It’s part of our life,” Ms Roberts-Frost said.
“But what we do need to do is make sure that we are setting up the frameworks and the systems so that we’re not trashing our own local environment for profits to flow, you know, offshore or to purely benefit private corporations.”
The campaign has raised concerns about potential emissions, water use, air quality, noise and traffic, as well as the suitability of the location.
Ms Roberts-Frost said governments needed to determine what responsible development of the rapidly growing sector should look like.
“It just needs a proper pause so that we can figure out what does good look like,” she said.
“What’s going to need to be true to be a net benefit to our environment, our communities, and not just a detractor.”
The campaign has made submissions to federal and NSW inquiries into data centres and has asked the Federal Environment Minister to consider the Moss Vale proposal under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
For Ms Roberts-Frost, the broader concern is avoiding a situation where individual communities are left to grapple with the same questions as data centre proposals emerge across Australia.
“The right hand needs to know what the left hand is doing here,” she said.