"Nvidia" bets about $3 billion on Australian data centers

NVIDIA is partnering with Firmus Technologies, an Australian startup, to create a massive fleet of AI data centers powered by renewable energy across the country. Firmus said in a statement that construction work is already underway on two data centers in Melbourne and Tasmania as part of “Project Southgate”, which will cost 4.5 billion Australian dollars (2.9 billion US dollars) and use 150 megawatts of electricity. The facilities will use Nvidia’s GB300 chips and are expected to be operational by April. Data centers increase energy demand The project could eventually be expanded to use 1.6 gigawatts of electricity, with a total investment of A$73.3 billion by 2028, which will support the development of new generation capacity amounting to 5.1 gigawatts of wind, solar and hydro power, according to the company. This is equivalent to about 5% of the total installed electrical energy in the country, according to BloombergNEF data. Also read: Why are fears rising over a trillion-dollar artificial intelligence bubble? Building clean-energy data centers could help boost demand for major renewable energy projects underway in Australia’s vast, sun- and wind-filled void. “The Southgate project exemplifies Australia’s ability to lead the world in the development of scalable, autonomous AI infrastructure,” Firmus co-CEO Oliver Curtis said in a statement.