Town questions $15b data centre set to use enough power for 1m homes

When residents of the NSW city of Wagga Wagga learnt one of the country's largest data centres was proposed for down the road, they had questions.

For resident Liz Warrell, the biggest was: how does it benefit her community?

"It's a big box; it sits there," she said.

"I don't know if it generates employment, I know it's using resources and I know it's creating emissions.

"So what effect is that having on us as a community as our climate dries?"

CDC Data Centres is proposing to build a $15 billion campus on a 100-hectare council-owned site next to the city's landfill.

If approved, the 1.4-gigawatt facility is expected to consume more electricity each year than a million typical NSW homes.

Just 4 kilometres from the proposed site, Eden Summers is also worried her peaceful rural lifestyle is at risk.

"Government likes to take action on big business projects without actually thinking of the locals," Ms Summers said.

The land CDC is eyeing for the project is currently zoned for primary production use, but the company proposes to change the zoning.

"We have restrictions on what we can do on our land, but then with it comes to big business, everything changes; there's just no consistency," Ms Summers said.

"People feel backstabbed."

A petition to halt the development, started by Ms Summers, has attracted more than 1,000 signatures and states locals "should not have to sacrifice our rural community for a data centre".

"If it was on land designated for this sort of project, opposition wouldn't be as strong," she said.

"But the land we are on, and the environment, is not appropriate."

Other residents cautiously open to plan

However, some Wagga residents, like Katrina Walker, think the site, 15 kilometres from the city's centre, made sense.

"If it's out at Gregadoo, that's a fair way out, so I think it'd be OK," she said.

So far, only a scoping report that provides an overview of the proposed state significant development has been made publicly available.

Advocacy group Committee 4 Wagga has cautiously welcomed the proposal, having campaigned previously for more industry in the city.

But co-chair Richard Pottie said support for the centre would depend on the details.

"We can't take on the 'not in our backyard' philosophy," he said.

"If there are lots of cons, we need to address it; if there are lots of pros, we need to endorse the project and make the most of it."

Calls for information on water and power usage

The first community consultation sessions will be held in Wagga on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

Once the state government releases its State Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the project, CDC will have two years to submit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The full outline of the data centre's electricity infrastructure needs, as well as a noise and vibration assessment and a water management plan, will be included in that EIS.

A CDC spokesperson said that in the proposed centre's first stage of operation, it was estimated that 1.28 million litres of water, or the equivalent water use of seven households, would be needed for an "initial fill".

"CDC typically undertakes this from rainwater collected onsite, with a backup from water trucks or, depending on local conditions, town water," the spokesperson said.

The company said on an ongoing basis, the first stage of the project was expected to consume as much water as a typical office building.

"We estimate our annual water consumption to be approximately 1,512,000 litres per year.

"The town water usage is estimated to be equivalent of a little less than nine Australian households."

Meanwhile, CDC said once completed, the 1.4-gigawatt campus was expected to run at between 40 and 60 per cent of its maximum capacity, depending on customer needs.

The company estimated that would be the equivalent of 5-7 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually.

According to household usage data from the Australian Energy Regulator, this is the equivalent annual consumption of between 1 and 1.5 million NSW homes.

CDC's website stated the project "could bring hundreds of new jobs during construction and ongoing skilled employment opportunities once operational".

Community consultation vital

Independent Member for Wagga Wagga Joe McGirr said lessons learnt during the state's renewable energy rollout need to be applied during the community consultation process.

"You can't take the community for granted," he said.

"You don't just come and pretend there's no one here.

"You've got to genuinely engage with the community, you've got to address community concerns, and you've got to make sure communities get benefits."

Dr McGirr said he had spoken with CDC about the project and toured one of the company's data centres in Sydney.

"It was quite impressive from a safety and water point of view," he said.

"The technology doesn't use a lot of water; they recirculate all the water. It's an Australian technology, built, as I understand, for our conditions."

The importance of community consultation has been echoed by the Wagga Business Chamber.

"We want to make sure that they're not just ticking a box," business manager Sally Manning said.

While Eden Summer acknowledged that it could be years before the data centre was approved, she was in opposition for the long haul.