By Giles Parkinson
Publication Date: 2026-06-04 05:10:00
Australia’s largest data center – more than twice the size of anything before it – is set to be built in South Australia as the state has “an abundance of clean energy” and has already met its goal of achieving 100 per cent “net” renewable energy.
US-based Iren – an industrial data center and AI specialist – announced overnight that it plans to build its 800MW data center near the Bundey substation, about 75km northeast of Adelaide. According to media reports, the cost of the center is around $10 billion.
The site was chosen because the area is unpopulated, lies at the intersection of major transmission lines and is in the middle of a maze of wind projects that make the state’s power grid the greenest in the world.
And it is seen as a hugely significant announcement, both because of its impact on wind, solar and battery projects, the success of South Australia’s green grid and because it…
