Data centre giant lines up solar, wind and battery deal to power its plans for former smelter site

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AirTrunk has committed to back a new wind, solar and battery projects in the New South Wales Hunter region, demonstrating that procuring new renewable energy sources is not as…

AirTrunk has committed to back a new wind, solar and battery projects in the New South Wales Hunter region, demonstrating that procuring new renewable energy sources is not as tall an order as some data centre operators – or politicians – are making out.

However, the deal announced today is mostly aspirational, with the renewable and battery plans yet to be put forward for approval and financiers yet to put money behind the projects.

Rather, AirTrunk has signed an “exclusivity agreement” with European Energy Australia for a 260 megawatt (MW) solar, 350 MW wind and a 600 MW, 800 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery project in the Hunter-Central Coast renewable energy zone (REZ).

Talks on a “potential long-term” power purchase agreement (PPA), the paperwork investors like to see before kicking in money to reach a final investment decision, are still “progressing,” the parties said on Thursday.

AirTrunk already has a PPA for a portion of the output of the 31 MW Mulwala solar farm, a completed and now operational project on the Victorian border of NSW that is also owned by European Energy.

AirTrunk says the generation and storage from the three new project proposals will support a 550 MW data centre at the old Kurri Kurri smelter site, directly adjacent to the troubled new Kurri Kurri gas-fired power station.

The solar and battery projects are expected to start operating in 2030 and the wind project in 2032.

AirTrunk is one of the biggest data centre proponents in Australia and says it wants to offset all of its energy use with renewables by 2030.

“Digital growth must bring new energy with it,” AirTrunk founder Robin Khuda said.

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