US-headquartered e-commerce and technology giant Amazon’s subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) has revealed plans to invest AUD 20 billion in solar-powered data centers in Australia by 2029. Over the next 5 years, AWS will further develop and expand its data centers in Sydney and Melbourne.
As the country’s ‘largest’ publicly-announced global technology investment, it aims to bolster the nation's cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, stated Amazon. The company did not specify the data center capacity that it plans to invest in.
“This is the largest investment our country has seen from a global technology provider, and is an exciting opportunity for Australia to build AI capability using secure, resilient infrastructure,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese while welcoming the news.
The 3 solar power plants that will power this investment are located in Victoria and Queensland. These will be delivered by Denmark’s European Energy, representing a combined capacity of more than 300 MW. Amazon has agreed to offtake 170 MW of the total.
One of these projects, the 58 MW Mokoan Solar Park in Victoria that European Energy acquired from Lightsource bp, is already grid-connected. Another Victoria-located project, the 131 MW DC/100 MW AC Winton North Solar Farm, and the 125 MW DC Bullyard Solar Farm in Queensland, are moving through the procurement process.
Amazon says apart from these 3, it has already invested in 8 solar and wind energy projects across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria (see Amazon Goes For Solar Power Procurement In Australia).
Once all are operational, these will generate more than 1.4 million MWh of clean energy annually.
“We’re proud to be expanding our world-class data center infrastructure, bringing more renewable energy projects online, and supporting the country’s vision to be a global AI leader,” added AWS CEO Matt Garman.
Spurred by the growth in AI, data centers are set to majorly drive electricity demand globally. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2030 electricity demand from data centers worldwide is set to more than double to around 945 TWh. While energy-guzzling data centers will drive up emissions, the use of solar and wind technologies can play a role in mitigating this impact.
