Australia's data centre boom needs an energy plan

This article was first published in The Australian on 18 February 2026.

Data centres are now critical national infrastructure. They power cloud services, AI workloads, social platforms and secure government operations. Australia is now the world's fifth-largest data centre market and demand is accelerating, driven by hyperscalers, public sector adoption and a tech sector that contributes about 8 per cent of GDP.

Capacity is forecast to more than double by 2030 - around 175 new facilities and more than $70 billion in infrastructure. AWS alone plans to invest $13.2 billion in Australian cloud infrastructure by 2027. The federal government's forthcoming national data centre strategy will shape energy policy, AI capability and national security, at a time when it is actively encouraging investment.