Days ago Firmus lodged an appeal against conditions placed on them for diesel generator use at their proposed Bell Bay AI factory, but instead of being transparent with Tasmanians they’ve been busy sponsoring sports teams. The appeal raises serious questions about how much diesel will be used, when and why, by a company marketing themselves as ‘green’ and renewable energy powered.
George Town Council approved Firmus’ use of diesel generators during outages, testing, inspections and emergencies. But Firmus have labelled this “unreasonable” and wants to use the generators to augment the mains electricity supply.
It’s completely unacceptable that Firmus won’t front the community or media and explain themselves. There is already an enormous lack of trust between Tasmanians and this company using our state’s reputation and resources for their AI product.
No amount of sports sponsorship can buy that trust. Only honest and open communication can. Instead of trying to buy their way to a social license, and distracting from the glaring issues at hand, Firmus and the Liberal Government need to tell Tasmania’s their plan and how these projects are consistent with the states climate policies.
It is still unclear how the Liberals and Firmus’ proposed energy policies for AI data facilities work. And there are huge questions as to how diesel generator use at scale is consistent with Tasmania’s emission reduction and climate policies. With another 5 AI data facilities in the pipeline, it’s imperative that the Liberal Government set reasonable standards now.
Hydro Tasmania are presently considering whether or not to supply roughly 30% of the states energy to Firmus for their three presently proposed AI factories. This decision must not be made until the details on energy policies are clear to Tasmanians and the community have their say.
The Liberal Government are continuing to drive forward plans for AI data centres across Tasmania with their hands off the wheel. They must put in place safeguards to protect Tasmanian communities and the environment from these energy hungry data centres.
