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Victoria makes data centres bring power

1 min read

13:52UTC

Victoria's new plan requires future data centres to supply renewable generation and storage matching their demand, pay their own grid costs and cool without drinking water.

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IndustryAssessed

Key takeaway

Victoria will require new data centres to bring their own renewable power and storage.

Victorian Premier Ben Carroll released a Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan on 22 September that requires new data centres to supply new renewable generation and storage to match their demand⁠¹. They must also pay their own connection and network costs. The plan, released with the state's Minister for AI and Digital Economy, Anthony Carbines, says data centres should become "net generators not net users".

New sites may not use drinking water for cooling; where other water is not yet available, operators must offset their use and fund upgrades. They must sit 150 metres from homes and away from schools. Each also owes a "Local Investment Guarantee" of jobs, vocational training courses and parks.

None of it is retrospective, which means approved projects and eight applications already before the minister are exempt⁠². New South Wales took power in August to bar large loads from its grid; Victoria has now written the terms that decide who gets on.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Victoria's government released a plan requiring new data centres built in the state to generate and store their own renewable electricity, cover the cost of connecting to the grid themselves, and stop using drinking water to cool their equipment. The rules apply only to future data centres, not ones already operating, so no existing facility has to retrofit to comply.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Victoria's plan pushes costs data centres previously shared with the wider grid, connection upgrades and firming power, back onto individual projects.

It is the same 'pay your own way' principle Texas applied this fortnight, arrived at independently through Australia's separate state energy-planning process rather than any coordination between the two governments.

Sources:ABC News·Oracle Corporation (SEC filing)·Oracle Corporation (SEC filing)

Mentions:Ben Carroll →New South Wales →ABC News →Wales →Anthony Carbines →Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan →Victoria (Australia) →

First Reported In

Update #15 · Texas freezes data-centre permits

ABC News· 24 Sept 2026

Read original →

Causes and effects

Caused by

NSW gives its minister a grid veto

New South Wales's August power to bar large loads prefigured Victoria's own conditions on new connections.

Occurred 4 Aug 2026

Read story →

This Event

Victoria makes data centres bring power

None of Victoria's rules applies to approved projects or the eight applications already before the minister, ABC News reported, so they govern the next wave of builds.

Different Perspectives

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An Coimisiun Pleanala

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Housing Assembly and Foxglove

The two groups' 6 August appeal, filed through the Legal Resources Centre, kept Cape Town's approval of Equinix's data centre suspended through this window over missing water, emissions, noise and diesel-generator data. Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews confirmed on 20-21 September that the suspension holds.

Brazil (President Lula, signing Redata)

Lula signed Lei 15.504 on 15 September, creating the Redata tax programme and keeping the Senate's water cap with no veto, while Aneel authorised Scala's AI City to join the national grid from January 2028. Brazil is recruiting capacity other markets are now turning away.

Aragon regional government (Eva Valle)

Aragon's economy chief Eva Valle said on 11 September that Spain's draft decree, requiring 80% hourly-matched renewables via a 10-year power-purchase agreement, is unmeetable by any project and threatens Blackstone, Azora and Microsoft builds already under way. Aragon holds 3,600 MW of granted grid access against 108 MW built.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott

Abbott ordered TCEQ on 21 September to halt every pending data-centre permit until projects pay their own way and complete ERCOT and Texas Water Development Board audits. Texas built the country's most permissive data-centre market; freezing it signals even that market has hit its grid limit.