Data centre operator GreenSquareDC to generate renewable power
Published Date : 2023-December-8, Friday
Data centres are an essential part of our digital society,
but as their rapid growth continues there are concerns about their power usage.
The IEA estimated that data centres and transmission networks each accounted
for 1 to 1.5% of global electricity use in 2022.
One Perth-based data centre operator, however, is planning
to offset its entire electricity consumption by building a large-scale
renewable energy project in WA.
GreenSquareDC (GSDC) has entered into a long-term ground
lease over 3100ha of land in East Hyden, in the Wheatbelt region north-east of
Perth, where it intends to establish a wind, solar and battery project.
Consultant Urbis has started pre-planning for a project with
total development capacity in the first stage of 100 MW, being an equal
combination of wind and solar energy, and 50 MW battery storage connected to
the existing 132kV line.
The second stage, dependent on Western Power upgrading the transmission
line to 220kV, could deliver an extra 50 MW of wind energy and 150 MW of solar
energy bringing the total capacity to 300 MW, plus another expansion of the
battery storage up to a total of 100 MW.
The project could benefit from its close location to Synergy’s
recently approved 150 MW Kings Rock Wind Farm, located around 30km away.
The renewable energy generated from GSDC’s Hyden project would
offset the power required for its planned $1bil, 96 MW WAi1 Data Centre to be
built in Perth.
GSDC has calculated that its Wai1 data centre, operating on
24/7 renewable energy, equates to a reduction of approximately 700,000 tonnes
of CO2 emissions per year compared to a traditional 96 MW data centre operating
at full capacity in Perth that relies on grid energy with fossil fuel
generation.
“At WAi1, our focus is to service hyperscale, government,
and wholesale enterprise customers seeking traditional or AI-enabled workloads,
who prefer cost-effective, highly sustainable, ESG-focused outcomes,” said Walt
Coulston, Founder & CEO of GreenSquareDC.
GSDC is interested in partnering or forming a joint venture
for the development stage of the project.