It has been predicted that AI data centres could use almost as much power as all the homes in New South Wales and Victoria by 2036. But could renewables be the answer? And will the states and territories sign up to the government's national plan?
USSC Director of Strategic Technologies Olivia Shen spoke with ABC about data centres' consumption of energy, saying that they are "an opportunity for Australia, but we have to balance that with making sure that data centre construction delivers benefits back to Australia, including to local communities, and to jobs and, in fact, to the energy transition" and that the "national standards... will be very important for achieving that right balance."