The Northern Territory Government has granted Beetaloo Energy exclusive rights to 185 hectares of land at Weddell, south of Darwin, clearing a path for Beetaloo Digital, a proposed data centre project anchored by gas-fired power generation. Beetaloo Energy launched Beetaloo Digital to pursue the development.

The exclusivity grant gives Beetaloo Energy the standing to line up consortium partners and begin pre-FEED studies at the site. The company says the project is meant to speed up development of its Beetaloo Basin gas resource, creating what it describes as a large and lasting domestic gas market. Beetaloo Energy said the power capacity left over after that market is served would be underpinned by the continuous energy demand of data centre operations.

Key numbers

  • 185 hectares of exclusive land rights granted at Weddell
  • Up to 200 terajoules of gas a day needed per gigawatt of data centre compute capacity for power generation

A site next to a planned energy hub

The Weddell site sits next to the Northern Territory Government's proposed Darwin Energy Hub, which is planned to include large-scale solar generation and battery storage. Beetaloo Energy says the project could add steady, always-on generation to back up the hub's solar and battery output, supporting reliability across the Darwin-Katherine electricity system. The company also points to Darwin's location close to major communications infrastructure and Asia-Pacific markets as a draw for data centre demand.

Plans to overbuild generation capacity

Beetaloo Energy managing director Alex Underwood said the project would not draw power from the Northern Territory grid. "We intend to add to it," he said. Underwood said the company plans to build more generation capacity than the project needs, which he said could give the Territory a large-scale baseload electricity source.

Chief Minister points to sector interest

Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the proposal reflects interest from the data centre sector in the Territory. "Data centre proponents are keen to talk to us," she said, pointing to the promise of gas-to-power supply backed by renewables and the Territory's connections to Asian markets.

The development still needs completion of concept studies and consortium partners, along with government and regulatory approvals, before it can proceed.