SA premier says a gigawatt of new power by 2027 is out of reach

At a glance

• South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas calls the power AI developers want "just crazy stuff", citing one company he met that is looking for a gigawatt in 2027.

• New generation is the challenge, he told the AFR Infrastructure Summit, because no amount of money can build that much in that time.

• His state is weighing almost 30 data centre proposals, and the six that developers have made public add up to about 6.5GW.

• Firmus, Quantum DC, Skylab Australia and 1414 Degrees pair their campuses with new solar, gas or battery capacity, contracted or on site.

• ElectraNet, South Australia's transmission network operator, is assessing an A$5 billion upgrade and will report on it in early 2027.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says the amount of power AI developers want is "just crazy stuff". "One in particular I met with in the US said, 'You know, we're looking for a gigawatt in 2027'," he told the Australian Financial Review Infrastructure Summit in Sydney on 9 November 2026.

Malinauskas met AI developers and data centre operators in the United States in July. "Even if you had all the money in the world, and I accept some of these companies might, even if you applied all the money in the world at that and threw it at that problem, you could not procure that much new generation in that period of time, regardless of the source," he said.

In South Australia, data centre developers have approached ElectraNet, the state's transmission network operator, almost 30 times, the AFR reported on 8 November 2026, and the six projects made public total about 6.5GW. Firmus, Quantum DC, Skylab Australia and 1414 Degrees plan new generation or storage alongside their campuses, and IREN's 800MW campus at Bundey has a connection agreement expected to carry its full load on the existing network.

Malinauskas says new generation is the test for data centres

The premier set out the state's terms in the AFR's 8 November report. "The only circumstances that we want data centres in South Australia is on our terms, to make sure they're bringing new generation, new energy and they're doing it in a way that complies with the strictest of environmental standards," he said.

"If you accept that new generation is critical to this endeavour, and it clearly must be … then you need to factor in the time that it takes to actually get this new generation online, and I think that's the ultimate challenge," he told the summit. He said he was "pragmatic" about gas generation for data centres, which he sees as having an essential role in supporting renewable energy.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen has asked the electricity rule-maker to require data centres to source round-the-clock power from new renewable generation in the same state, the AFR reported.

Malinauskas also told the summit he supports the federal government's move to explore banning data centres near homes and recreational facilities, while opposing a moratorium on all projects. "There are some really good examples in regional South Australia where I think [data centres] will be welcomed," he said.

Six public South Australian projects add up to about 6.5GW

ElectraNet chief executive Simon Emms described connection interest from data centres as being at "unprecedented levels". Most of the 163 data centres in Australia in operation are in Sydney and Melbourne, according to Data Centres Australia research cited by the AFR. In South Australia, five developers have announced six projects publicly, through their own releases and local media, all of them regional: three east of Adelaide in the Murraylands and Adelaide Hills, two near Port Augusta in the Upper Spencer Gulf, and one at Bundey in the Mid North.

Source: IREN, Firmus, Quantum DC via DatacenterDynamics and Baxtel, Skylab Australia via Murray Bridge News, 1414 Degrees via Small Caps, June to October 2026.

None of the six has development approval yet. South Australia treats data centres as essential infrastructure, so the state planning minister rather than local councils decides them, under planning changes passed in November 2025. The data centre strategy the government released in June 2026 builds on those changes. Each state runs its own data centre policy and approval settings.

Four developers pair their campuses with new power supply

The largest of the six is Firmus, which plans 2.7GW of power connection capacity across Tailem Bend and Stirling North. Its 12-year agreement with commodities trader Gunvor will supply 600MW of firm electricity and commits Gunvor to support 1.2GW of new renewable generation and 1.5GWh of battery storage by 2032. That two-to-one ratio matches Firmus's published energy policy.

The Gunvor deal also includes an offtake from renewables developer GreenPoint Energy's 200MW Koolunga battery near Brinkworth, and a demand-response commitment under which Firmus cuts consumption for up to 220 hours a year when wholesale prices pass agreed thresholds, RenewEconomy reported.

Queensland energy developer Skylab Australia plans its 800MW Cooke Plains campus, south-east of Tailem Bend, beside a 250MW solar farm, a 200MW battery and possibly a gas plant on the same site. "We started with power and we're adding a data centre on," chief executive Cameron Meekin told Murray Bridge News. Skylab says it has acquired the land and has an experienced data centre operator as its partner. Skylab's website now puts the project at 1.2GW of data centre load.

Quantum DC, led by Alby Tomassi, plans a 1.2GW compute and energy hub at Tungkillo, 55km east of Adelaide. The design pairs three data centre buildings with on-site gas turbines and two substations connecting to an ElectraNet 275kV line that crosses the property, and the hub would supply power into the grid at times. Quantum DC says renewable supply would cover about 80 per cent of the hub's electricity and on-site gas about 20 per cent, according to Baxtel.

ASX-listed energy storage company 1414 Degrees has a heads of agreement with an unnamed Australian operator for up to 1GW at its Aurora precinct near Port Augusta. The staged plan starts with a 17MW campus on a 33kV connection, moves to a 200MW anchor campus once a 275kV connection is in place, and grows as the precinct's solar and its approved 140MW, 280MWh battery are built out.

IREN's Bundey campus connects to the existing network

The remaining developer, IREN, is using capacity on the existing network. It chose Bundey because the site is close to ElectraNet's Bundey substation and existing high-voltage lines. Its transmission connection agreement, announced in June 2026, secures four 330kV feeder exits at the substation and is expected to support up to 800MW without network upgrades.

IREN plans to start early works and procurement alongside its regulatory approvals and expects to begin energising the 800MW Bundey campus from 2028. It plans to build and pay for the 2km line from the campus to the substation, the AFR reported.

ElectraNet is assessing an A$5 billion transmission upgrade

Many of the other proposals rely on new transmission, the AFR reported, and ElectraNet is assessing the Northern Transmission Project to provide it. The first stage is a 150km line from Dry Creek in Adelaide's outer north to Bundey, costed by ElectraNet at about A$1.4 billion. The second is a 350km line from Bundey to Whyalla that could cost up to A$3.8 billion on preliminary estimates, according to the AFR. Built in full, it is expected to double the state's transmission capacity.

ElectraNet's Project Assessment Draft Report, published in April 2026, put the net market benefit of the first stage at A$356 million to A$640 million. ElectraNet forecast in the same release that South Australia's peak electricity demand could more than double over 15 years, from about 3.3GW to more than 6.5GW, based on current connection enquiries.

Emms told the AFR that ElectraNet expects to release an updated cost-benefit report in early 2027, with planning, approvals, design and construction to take about four years from there. Malinauskas said the decision rests with ElectraNet because "100 per cent private capital" would fund the upgrade, and that he would broadly welcome it.

What to watch

ElectraNet's updated cost-benefit report. Due in early 2027, it will identify the scope and timing ElectraNet proposes for the Northern Transmission Project.

Development applications. Firmus is finalising its Stirling North application, InDaily reported on 6 November 2026. Skylab said in July 2026 it expects to lodge for Cooke Plains within 12 months, and Quantum DC intends to lodge through the essential infrastructure pathway.

The proposed data centre and AI infrastructure Act. The June 2026 strategy said the government would introduce the Act, which would include a streamlined development process for data centres.

IREN's early works at Bundey. IREN expects to start early works and procurement alongside its regulatory approvals and connection-agreement conditions, ahead of energisation from 2028.