ReportSix Secret AI Data Centres Threaten Tasmania's GridAired September 10, 2026 at 7:51 PM UTCWritten September 10, 2026 at 8:11 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Two secret AI data centers could each draw 300 megawatts, 17% of Tasmania's0:06peak.0:06The six proposals together could add more than 500 megawatts to a grid already0:10pushed to its limits by drought.0:12The companies behind them are unnamed, their sites mostly unknown, and not one lists0:16a water requirement.0:17So the question is simple, who is behind these proposals, and what does Tasmania0:21actually get back?0:22The disclosure came in a government document tabled in Parliament on September 9th,0:26produced after a Greens transparency motion passed the lower house on September 2nd.0:31The document counts 10 AI data centers in the pipeline with up to roughly 11500:35megawatts of potential demand, a figure the government calls pipeline interest, not0:40committed load.0:41Six of those are new and confidential.0:43The document lists them as proponents 3 to 8 after three named Firmis projects and a0:48small Viridis project in Bernie.0:50The government would not say whether they are one company or several.0:54Of the six, one is on hold needing just over a megawatt with no disclosed location.0:58Two are feasibility stage, one with a preferred site in the northwest, one concept1:03stage with no site, and both could draw up to three hundred megawatts.1:06The other three are concept stage, each needing five to fifty megawatts.1:10Combined though, the six could demand roughly five hundred and five to seven hundred1:15and five megawatts, reported as at least five hundred.1:18And here's where the secrecy is sharpest.1:20For all six proposals, water use is listed as not defined.1:24That stands in sharp contrast to the named projects beside them in the same table.1:27Firmist Technologies is named, with three sites and water figures listed.1:31The six confidential proposals are the opposite.1:33No names, mostly no sites, and for every one of them water is simply marked not1:38defined.1:38The government withheld detail on the grounds of commercial sensitivity or said some1:42information was not yet available, not sufficiently settled, not capable of reliable1:47estimation, or has been provided to the Office of the Coordinator General in1:51Confidence.1:51That office shepherded proponents, helped some identify sites, and made1:55introductions to energy and utility providers.1:57The Greens argue the confidentiality protects the proponents, not the Tasmanians who2:02will carry the network, water, and price costs.2:04The document itself shows the gap.2:07Water is not defined for the confidential six, while Firmas's Bell Bay site carries2:12an annual figure of 8,700 kiloliters and its Wesley Vale site 448 kiloliters.2:18Now the grid context.2:19Tasmania's peak demand in the 2024-25 year was 1,770 megawatts.2:25A single 300 megawatt facility would be roughly 17% of that, about the scale of the2:30Bell Bay aluminium smelter, often cited around 335 megawatts.2:35Tasmania's firm capacity is constrained.2:37Hydro Tasmania holds about 2,290 megawatts across 30 stations, but output depends on2:43inflows and storages.2:44Wind adds roughly 560 to 570 megawatts of variable power.2:49The Tamar Valley gas plant, about 372 megawatts, is the dry year backup, and2:53Baselink can import around 478 megawatts through 2025.2:57Drought forced the state to fire up its largest gas plant for the first time in five3:01years.3:01New large load without matching new renewable generation pushes directly at prices3:06and at power security, the two things the government's own draft framework says it3:10aims to protect.3:11The conflict over the secrecy became the story's sharpest turn.3:14The government argues the tabled document itself is the transparency, but the Greens3:19see it differently.3:26Premier Jeremy Rockliffe rejected a scare campaign, said Tasmanians reasonably want3:31more information, and argued data centers are the kind of investment the state3:35should attract.3:36Energy Minister Nick Dewey restated that new load must bring new generation.3:40And on September 7th, the government released non-binding draft, Expectations for3:45Data Centers and AI Infrastructure.3:47Minister Felix Ellis said no project receives automatic approval or special3:51treatment.3:52The Greens branded the framework an absolute joke.3:55Independent MP Helen Burnett joined the moratorium calls.3:58The moratorium petition itself carries a counting conflict.4:02The Greens say 10,035 signatures, while the Parliament's e-petitions page records4:077,204 filed by Launceston Principal Petitioner Jamie Andrew Melvin between June 224:12and August 10.4:13Meanwhile, the most concrete decision is still pending.4:16Hydro Tasmania is to decide by the end of this year on Firmis Technologies' separate4:21request for 450 megawatts across its three proposed sites.4:25St.4:25Lannard's under construction, a 208 megawatt Bell Bay project approved by Georgetown4:30Council 6-1 on August 25th, and a mooted 52 megawatt Wesley Vale project filed4:35September 2nd.4:36Firmis has confirmed it is not behind the six confidential proposals.4:39Those six are earlier and looser.4:42Several have not yet engaged energy generators or TAS networks, so their timing and4:46even their fate are unknown.4:48The Greens' ongoing parliamentary inquiry and the moratorium petition frame the4:52question hanging over the state, whether Tasmania's renewable surplus will be sold4:56at scale to undisclosed multinationals behind commercial confidentiality before any5:00binding guardrail is in place?Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗