Australia's on track to meet its climate targets but one major hurdle needs clearing | The Business

By ABC News (Australia)

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The nation's transition to net-zero carbon emissions is a big enough challenge, but the rollout of data centres is now adding to that. The president of ABB Energy Industries Asia, Anders Maltesen, says while Australia is on track to meet its climate targets, the national electricty grid remains the wild card. "So data centres are potentially going to add 5.4 gigawatt of additional demand," he said. And the capacity of the energy grid to handle the renewables rollout, he said, is the critical piece of infrastructure that could make or break Australia's climate targets. "So that's quite a bit of electricity which needed to be added. But again, with the buildout you have at the moment and on the renewable side, it's feasible." But, he said, "I think if all of them are going to be implemented, I think the grid will be struggling if it comes, for example, in three years. It all depends on what is the horizon in terms of how long time it'll take for them to build it out." #ABCBusiness S

Tags: Australia, abc, abc news, news, business news, finance news, economic news, economy, finance, the business, abc news australia, climate, net zero, electricity, grid, data centres, artificial intelligence windfarms, solar, Anders Maltesen, David Taylor