Energy North drops 2028 start date for 1 GW outback data centre after regulator pause

Energy North has dropped its June 2028 "first power" date for Project Ares, a planned 1 gigawatt data centre in Australia's Northern Territory, after the territory's environment regulator suspended its decision deadline, Reuters reports.

In an October 7 ruling, the regulator suspended its seven week deadline to decide what hurdles the project must clear. It said it would seek advice from the federal government, which is "developing policy expectations for data centres and AI infrastructure developers", and gave no new timeframe.

"The June 2028 date in our referral was an indicative schedule at the time of lodgement, and we're no longer working to it," Energy North vice president of project development Daniel Hunter told Reuters. He said the company would confirm timing once the regulator sets out terms for an environmental impact statement, and declined to say who is lined up to finance the project.

The proposed 191 square kilometre campus on a cattle ranch, 683 kilometres from the nearest city, would include a gas turbine system, a solar farm, an airstrip and accommodation for 4,300 construction workers. The regulator warned of 10 impacts, from straining water systems to disrupting Aboriginal sacred sites, and said it had a "low level of confidence in the effectiveness of proposed measures to manage potential significant impact".

Reuters describes the project as the biggest in Australia to put back its timing. It is four times the size of a Melbourne data centre expansion that NextDC delayed this month over energy supply concerns.