<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/if-data-centres-can-be-built-in-canberra-then-why-not-the-riverina/>
"Recent discussions have indicated two problems which, put together, may
represent an opportunity.
There is not enough transmission to utilise all the potential supply of
variable renewable energy (VRE) in the Riverina. ITK has several times over the
past two years pointed out that credible developers have upwards of 10
gigawatts (GW) of projects that can be built in an area centred on, say,
Balranald.
That energy could go either to Victoria via VNI West or to Sydney via Humelink,
but neither transmission line has enough capacity. Moreover, Victoria doesn’t
have the stomach to build onshore and would rather build offshore wind, no
matter how expensive it is.
Data centre developers, particularly NextDC, are just starting to build 100
megawatt (MW) and larger data centres in Australia. Naturally, like everything
else, data centres are built in capital cities. Naturally, like everything
else, primarily Sydney, with Melbourne and Brisbane fighting for second place –
and Melbourne usually winning.
However, the point here is that the cost of power is a big deal for mega-scale
data centres. In the US it’s led to development near the generation.
In this note I do a thought experiment of looking at the potential power cost
for a datacentre located adjacent to a renewable project in the Riverina."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
