The datacentre power spat highlights a hidden truth: we’re not building renewables fast enough to meet our needs | Alison Reeve

A battle over datacentre power sources is only part of the picture. Australia needs a much bigger electricity system to meet all future demand Anthony Albanese has been clear that he wants a set of national standards to ensure datacentre growth accelerates Australia’s push to renewables and keeps a lid on power prices. At the centre of his desired policies was a “BYO power” requirement – a condition that all new datacentres would be powered by 100% renewable electricity. But last week these aims collided with the Queensland and Northern Territory governments’ desire to rely on their state-owned gas and coal power stations to power datacentres.