Gingerah Energy rules out fracked gas for WA data centre project

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Gingerah WA data centre renewables

Highlights

Gingerah Energy will submit Project Meridien to the WA Environmental Protection Authority, proposing a 1,000-megawatt data centre and renewable energy hub powered by a 5,200-megawatt solar farm and 250 wind turbines.
Renewables are expected to supply more than 85 percent of initial energy demand, with backup gas mainly sourced from Karratha and set to be phased out as storage and technology improve.
Grattan Institute estimates the project will require eight to 32 terajoules of gas daily at full scale—about 1 percent of WA's daily gas consumption—unlikely to prompt new exploration or fracking.

Project energy mix and approval timeline

As reported by ABC News, Gingerah Energy says its proposed Project Meridien data centre near Broome would not use gas sourced through fracking, even as the company prepares to refer the plan to the WA Environmental Protection Authority within weeks.

The project, proposed on Karajarri country about 2,000 kilometres north of Perth, was referred to the Commonwealth's environmental agency last month. Gingerah plans a 1,000-megawatt data centre and renewable energy hub that includes a local micro-grid powered by a 5,200-megawatt solar farm and 250 wind turbines.

Chief executive Jop van Hattum says the project, which Gingerah hopes to deliver by 2030, would initially run on solar, batteries and gas, with wind added later. He says renewables would provide more than 85 per cent of total energy demand in the initial phase, with that share rising as the facility expands toward full capacity.

Van Hattum says the backup gas would most likely come from Karratha and be sourced from the domestic gas market. He adds that the company's preference is to replace gas over time as storage systems and related technologies improve and costs fall.

Gas supply concerns and regional impact

Environmental groups say the company's description of gas coming from the domestic market leaves unanswered questions over whether future Kimberley supply could still be linked indirectly to fracking. Environs Kimberley director Martin Pritchard says greater clarity is needed on whether gas could come from new or proposed developments in the region.

The debate is heightened by Gingerah's ownership structure. The venture includes Karajarri Traditional Lands Association, Dutch geodata company Fugro and Australian geoscience firm Longreach Capital Investment, which owns Theia Energy, a company that previously applied to drill and frack exploration wells in the Kimberley.

Grattan Institute energy expert Alison Reeve estimates the Meridien data centre would require about eight terajoules of gas a day in its initial 240-megawatt phase and about 32 terajoules a day at full capacity. She says that is roughly 1 per cent of Western Australia's daily gas consumption of about 1,100 terajoules, and argues the project is not large enough on its own to trigger more gas exploration or fracking in the Kimberley because the state already has sufficient supply.

KTLA director Justin King Senior says the gas needed for Meridien would "absolutely not" come from fracking and says such supply would never form part of the project's energy mix. He also says only a small minority of KTLA members oppose the development, citing several concerns including growing negative sentiment toward data centres online.

We have previously noted how AI data center financing risks in the US are rising amid delays, higher costs, and power constraints.

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