The AI revolution is coming to the Murraylands, with two major data centres proposed to be built in the region.
A data centre is essentially a warehouse full of computer processors, designed to perform the functions that make cloud storage and AI systems work, and connected to the internet in much the same way as a power plant might be connected to the grid.
Much fanfare has been made about plans by a company called Firmus to build one such facility north of Tailem Bend.
In addition, another company, Skylab Australia, plans to build a second data centre at Cooke Plains.
The two facilities would have quite different operating models, with one much bigger in scale and the other co-located alongside a new solar farm – more on that below.
Neither data centre has yet received development approval from the state government.
But Premier Peter Malinauskas has indicated his strong support for what he described as a “generational economic opportunity”, even announcing plans for a state Data Centre and AI Infrastructure Act that would streamline the approval process.
