{"id":388074,"date":"2026-04-20T02:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T02:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388074\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T02:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T02:17:10","slug":"plans-emerge-for-countrys-biggest-ai-data-centre-in-western-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388074\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans emerge for country’s biggest AI data centre in Western Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plans are underway to build the nation’s biggest data centre in Western Australia’s remote far north to support large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) training, including systems like ChatGPT.<\/p>\n

Powered by wind, solar and natural gas, Project Meridien would deliver about 240 megawatts of IT capacity and cost billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

The “AI factory” would be built in stages on Karajarri country south of Broome in the Kimberley, 2,000 kilometres north of Perth, and is projected to open in 2032.<\/p>\n

\"map<\/p>\n

Gingerah Energy’s Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the Karajarri People covers more than 30,000 square kilometres, with about 275 square kilometres designated for proposed development. (Supplied: Gingerah Energy)<\/p>\n

Gingerah Energy is the joint venture behind the project and chief executive Jop van Hattum said the project would build upon the initial 240 megawatts of IT capacity.<\/p>\n

“Eventually, the project will be four times larger than that,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The site we have selected allows for a 1 gigawatt IT facility.”<\/p>\n

Australia’s data centre landscape<\/p>\n

An AI data centre is a facility filled with high-powered computers<\/a> used to train and run AI systems.<\/p>\n

Australia has more than 250 data centres, which typically range in size from five to 10 megawatts, according to the WA Climate Council.<\/p>\n

This project would be significantly larger than typical metropolitan data centres and cater to different markets.<\/p>\n

“The data centres we are focused on are at a much larger scale, and they are used to train those large language models that services like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot use to give answers to specific queries,” Mr van Hattum said.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Jop van Hattum presents information about Project Meridien. (Supplied: Jop van Hattum)<\/p>\n

He said the project’s domestic customers might include mining companies using AI training.<\/p>\n

Internationally, Mr van Hattum said the facility might interest Singaporean companies as WA was geographically close and a signal could travel quickly between countries via fibre optic cable.<\/p>\n

“And that’s important, because companies want information in real-time,” he said.<\/p>\n

Working with traditional owners<\/p>\n

The proponent is a joint venture between Karajarri Traditional Lands Association (KTLA), Dutch geodata company Fugro, and Australian geoscience firm Longreach Capital Investment.<\/p>\n

KTLA chairperson Thomas King said for traditional owners (TOs) to co-own such a significant project was rare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s unique in the sense traditional owners are becoming partners in a green energy project powered by renewable energy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m not aware of any other TOs across the country engaged in any similar projects of this magnitude.”<\/p>\n

The project is underpinned by an Indigenous Land Use Agreement covering more than 30,000 square kilometres, with about 1 per cent of that area or 275 square kilometres, designated for proposed development.<\/p>\n

Mixed opinions<\/p>\n

Mr King said the project aligned with Indigenous principles about minimising impacts on country and the environment.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

An Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the Karajarri People has been signed. (Supplied: Jop van Hattum)<\/p>\n

But support to build a data centre was not unanimous among KTLA members.<\/p>\n

“As with any projects that have an impact on country and our heritage protection, you’re always going to have an element that is not too comfortable,” Mr King said.<\/p>\n

“That is something we have to discuss internally so that, in general, a majority of people are in support.”<\/p>\n

Sustainability focus<\/p>\n

The data centre would be single-storey and form part of a large building complex near fields of wind turbines and solar panels that, along with batteries and some natural gas, would power the facility.<\/p>\n

Mr van Hattum said contrary to the common belief data centres required large amounts of water<\/a> for cooling, the facility would use a closed-loop system recirculating the same water.<\/p>\n

He said the system was different to the water-hungry “evaporative cooling” method employed by some other data centres.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Karajarri traditional owners are a one-third partner in the project. (Supplied: Jop van Hattum)<\/p>\n

Mr van Hattum said the company would advance environmental studies in the coming months, then refer to WA’s Environmental Protection Authority for assessment.<\/p>\n

Construction was expected to start in late 2029 or early 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plans are underway to build the nation’s biggest data centre in Western Australia’s remote far north to support…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[365,363,364,200969,15485,4036,7705,13145,6301,200967,200965,200968,33183,165752,111,139,69,200966,145,2987],"class_list":{"0":"post-388074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-bidyadanga","12":"tag-broome","13":"tag-chatgpt","14":"tag-claude","15":"tag-data-centre","16":"tag-gemini","17":"tag-gingerah","18":"tag-gingerah-energy","19":"tag-jop-van-hattum","20":"tag-kimberley","21":"tag-ktla","22":"tag-new-zealand","23":"tag-newzealand","24":"tag-nz","25":"tag-project-meridien","26":"tag-technology","27":"tag-wa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}