Australia
Queensland to power data centres with coal and gas
Queensland has defended using coal and gas for data centres while rejecting alignment with the federal Coalition on energy policy.
Queensland will continue to rely on coal and gas to power its growing network of data centres, resisting pressure to shift these energy-intensive facilities entirely to renewable sources in the immediate term. According to reporting by Renew Economy, the state government has maintained its stance on fossil fuel usage for these facilities while simultaneously refusing to support the federal Coalition on its broader energy policies.
Data centres, which house the computing infrastructure necessary for modern digital services, require immense amounts of electricity to run and cool their systems. As technology and artificial intelligence demands grow, the energy consumption of these facilities has become a critical point of debate across Australia. Queensland energy planning remains focused on utilising existing coal and gas infrastructure to ensure the reliability of these digital hubs.
While the state has committed to keeping its coal and gas generation active for this purpose, it has distanced itself from the federal Coalition. The precise details of the Coalition policies that Queensland is refusing to back were not fully detailed in the initial reports, though energy transition and nuclear power have been key areas of division between state and federal leaders. Queensland officials have not confirmed any alignment with federal opposition strategies on the national grid.
Critics argue that relying on fossil fuels for technology infrastructure undermines emissions reduction targets. However, proponents of the state's approach argue that gas and coal provide the necessary baseload power to prevent outages in sensitive data systems, which cannot yet be fully guaranteed by renewable energy storage alone.
Watch for how Queensland balances its fossil-fuelled data strategy with its long-term emissions targets as the federal election approaches.
This report draws on original reporting by Renew Economy.
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