Hyperscale data centres with renewables & BESS: regional Australia’s opportunity

The author argues that regional Australia must lead the next wave of digital infrastructure by co-locating hyperscale facilities with hybrid renewable energy systems—solar, wind, and increasingly cost-competitive battery energy storage.

Such configurations enable direct access to clean generation, reduce exposure to marginal loss factors, and allow advanced energy management systems to align variable renewable output with data centre loads. This approach strengthens project bankability through long-term power purchase agreements, accelerates progress toward Australia’s 82% renewable target by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050, and unlocks economic benefits such as regional job creation, skills development, and digital equity. At the same time, distributing data centres beyond capital cities improves national resilience by mitigating risks tied to grid stress, natural disasters, and security threats.

While challenges remain—including limited fibre infrastructure, skills shortages, and potential latency impacts—Carrillo highlights that strategic investment and early collaboration among data centre operators, renewable developers, transmission providers, and communities are critical. With coordinated planning, regional Australia can become the cornerstone of a sustainable, resilient, and decentralised digital future.

Read the full article: Why regional Australia must lead the next digital wave, and power data centres with renewables and storage