By abcnews
Publication Date: 2026-03-25 05:50:00
Questions remain over the agreement to supply electricity to an AI company in northern Tasmania, less than a year after an application to supply it from another manufacturer was rejected.
Earlier this week, Oliver Curtis of AI company Firmus told ABC Hobart Mornings that the St Leonards facility, which would “produce AI tokens” to be “consumed globally” through the use of artificial intelligence technologies, would become operational this year.
Mr Curtis confirmed that for the initial phase of the project, Firmus had secured the supply of 104 megawatts with energy retailer Aurora for power from Hydro, the state-owned hydroelectric generator, with plans to expand.
In June last year, ABC reported that Hydro had informed the Boyer paper mill that it could not provide enough electricity to successfully switch from coal-fired burners to electric.
The Boyer Mill is one of the state’s largest consumers of electricity, using around 100 megawatts – the electric boilers would require another 45 megawatts.