AI factory 'brings into doubt' future of Tasmania's Marinus Link

Tasmania's cool climate and access to renewable energy has made it an attractive place for AI data centre investment, including this proposed Firmus Technologies site at Bell Bay. (Supplied)

AI infrastructure company Firmus plans to build several data centres in Tasmania’s north, which will require an estimated 400 megawatts of energy.

Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean says the expansion of energy-intensive data centres in Tasmania brings into doubt the business case for the undersea Bass Strait power cable Marinus Link.

A Marinus Link spokesperson says increased investment in data centres is further proof of the necessity of the project.

Energy industry voices are warning that the business case for Marinus Link appears increasingly unviable if power-hungry players such as AI data centres continue to expand across Tasmania.

Firmus Technologies, a Singapore-based company led by co-founders Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield, has designs on using a significant portion of Tasmania's energy to power three AI data centres in the state's north.

It has already locked in more than 100 megawatts for its St Leonards precinct, which is currently under construction.

The AI data centre at St Leonards will produce "AI tokens" needed for tools such as generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. (Supplied: Tasmanian government)

Two more Firmus centres are planned: one in Bell Bay, north of Launceston; and another in Wesley Vale, in the state's north-west. The power requirements across the three sites are estimated to be 400 megawatts, or about two-fifths of the state's total power supplies if more generation is not added.

Those high energy needs were enough for the boss of a federal agency charged with advising the government on climate policy to express some doubt towards another energy infrastructure project — Marinus Link.

The $5 billion project will connect Tasmania and Victoria via 255 kilometres of undersea cable, enabling greater energy trading between the states. (Prysmian Group)

"Just look at Tasmania, for example," Climate Council Authority chair Matt Kean said during a Q&A at the Morgan Stanley Australia Summit in Sydney last week.

"It's an evolving market," Mr Kean would go on to tell the global investment bank's summit, which is held over several days and plays host to business leaders, investors and analysts.

"Government policy needs to keep up with those rapid shifts if we're to realise the opportunity."

Premier Jeremy Rockliff (centre) with Firmus Technologies co-CEOs Tim Rosenfield and Oliver Curtis. (Supplied: Tasmanian government)

The $5 billio