00:01About an hour from where I am in Toowoomba at the Wombo feedlot, right outside of Dolby,
00:07is what experts are saying the centre of the data centre Goldrush.
00:12Last month, Singapore-based developer Zera DC launched a development application with
00:17the local council, proposing a nearly $32 billion data centre, which is about five times
00:24the infrastructure budget of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, and experts say that would
00:29make it one of, if not the largest data centre in Australia.
00:33And to put it into context, this data centre would draw at peak capacity about 2.16 gigawatts,
00:41which is roughly the same power draw as one and a half million average Australian households.
00:47The big news that we heard yesterday is that AI giant Anthropic has leased one of the four
00:53buildings set to be established there on the Western Downs.
00:57This marks its first deal in Australia, and what we understand from that deal is that
01:04they're looking to use the servers there to power its AI program, Claude, meaning that if
01:10you were to go into Claude and type in, how do data centres work, the answer you get could
01:15be powered by servers right here in regional Queensland.
01:18They've stressed that it won't be to train models, but it will be to answer customer queries.
01:23At this stage, the development application is still with council, but it marks a major movement
01:29in terms of Anthropic choosing this site in regional Queensland to place its first deal.
01:36So, Grace, how are locals feeling about the plan?
01:41Well, it's made waves around Dolby, understandably.
01:43I mean, this is historically an agricultural region, and the proposed site is a feedlot licensed
01:50to carry 24,000 head of cattle.
01:53But not only is it agricultural, in the past two decades or so, there's been a major shift
01:58to the energy industry.
02:00The mayor has called it the energy capital of Queensland.
02:03And if I can paint a picture, if you flew over the top of the feedlot, you'd see all the
02:07cattle,
02:08but you'd also see coal seam gas wells.
02:10And right next to the proposed data centre site, there are three major gas-fired power
02:16plants and a substation that sends power to Queensland and to New South Wales.
02:21There also has been an influx of renewable energy projects.
02:25So for some, including the mayor and some local economic bodies, this is the opportunity of
02:31a lifetime.
02:31It could mean a change as big as the change from agriculture to industry.
02:36This is what the mayor, Andrew Smith, had to say slightly earlier.
02:40We're hearing up to 1,000 jobs, maybe even more full-time every day of the week.
02:46I guess when we look at where we've come from as a region and where most rural and regional
02:52areas are right across the nation, this is potentially a huge opportunity to get people and to get feet
03:01on the ground in our communities.
03:02There will be challenges around roads and housing and water, but we will deal with those.
03:08We're pretty proactive and we do look for opportunity on the Western Downs, so we see it as a great
03:15challenge.
03:17The mayor of the Western Downs there, Andrew Smith.
03:20Now, I did speak to some farmers around the region and heard some concerns around the
03:25resources this data centre could use.
03:27This part of Queensland is drought-prone.
03:30Neighbouring regions have been drought-declared earlier this year.
03:33And one farmer told me that she's concerned that the demand for power for this data centre
03:38would equate to more gas-fired energy production.
03:42And she outlined concerns that coal seam gas drilling had impacted groundwater in some areas.
03:49Now, one thing that experts and the Queensland government, who has been arguing for an energy
03:56agnostic mix, including fossil fuels and renewables, one thing that experts and the government can
04:02agree on is that there'll need to be major new energy generation.
04:07That's the same thing the developer has committed to.
04:09They say they'll be seeking to partner with renewable energy companies to make sure that
04:15they bring enough new energy to the grid to power this facility.
04:19So, Grace, what's the timeline on all of this?
04:22How soon could it be up and running?
04:26Well, Kath, I was there just the other week and what struck me is there's not much there
04:31right now.
04:32As the mayor said, you know, over there, you can the distance, you can see cattle.
04:36The other side, you can see the power stations and the data centre is going to go on this
04:40bit of dirt here.
04:41So, at this stage, it's not looking like much, but what the developer hopes is with the construction
04:47timeline of four to six years, they'll be able to build this world-scale computing hub.
04:53And what's interesting is that Anthropic wants to start to use the facility by as soon as next
05:00year.
05:00And if that is the case, the development application is still with council.
05:05It still needs to be approved.
05:07Regulations will likely be put in place by the state government as well.
05:11But it looks like things are moving fairly quickly.
05:13Regulations will likely be put in place by the state government as well.
05:13Regulations will likely be put in place by the state government as well.
05:13Regulations will likely be put in place by the state government as well.
05:13Regulations will likely be put in place by the state government as well.
05:14You
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