Building data centres near existing solar and wind projects in regional Australia would not only support local jobs and industry, but could reduce the amount of energy going to waste.
The Electrical Trades Union released the findings on Wednesday from a report into NSW data centres, which are growing in number to meet rising demands for artificial intelligence tools.
Concerns have been raised about how much water and electricity the AI hubs will use, with Oxford Economics Australia warning they could demand 11 per cent of NSW’s grid-supplied energy by 2030.
The Site It Right report, prepared by the Carbon Zero Initiative, found Australia had an opportunity to meet data centres’ power demands by building them near existing renewable energy projects.
Analysis of electricity produced by solar and wind farms in regional NSW found almost one third (29 per cent) or 2.1 gigawatts was curtailed or lost during 2025.
