The ambitious project would provide a large new market for Beetaloo gas but has sparked an immediate backlash from green groups.

The territory’s ambitions to expand into data centres and rare earths hinge on a huge gas resource and its potential to deliver cheap and plentiful power.

Beetaloo Energy has secured exclusive NT land for a proposed gas-powered AI data centre precinct, opening a potential long-term domestic market for its Beetaloo Basin gas.