Proponents of the $73.3 billion (USD 47.5 billon) Project Southgate, say using 100% renewable energy is central to the energy-ravenous artificial intelligence (AI) data centres they plan to build in across Australia.
Singapore-headquartered Australian-founded AI infrastructure startup Firmus Technologies say Project Southgate could support the development of up to 5.1 GW of new solar, storage, hydro and wind generation projects in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales (NSW), and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Developed in partnership with Victoria-based CDC Data Centres, and United State graphic processing unit (GPU) manufacturer NVIDIA, the first ‘AI factory’ will house 36,000 Nvidia GPUs in northern Tasmania in partnership with the state government, and a second is under construction in Melbourne involving 18,000 GUPs due to come online in 2026, and valued at $4.5 billion.
Image: Firmus Technologies
New data centre sites in Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney will bring the projects’ cost to $73.3 billion and deliver 1.6 GW of compute at five Firmus sites by 2028.
Firmus Technologies Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Oliver Curtis said Project Southgate is a blueprint for how Australia can lead the world in scalable, sovereign AI infrastructure.
“We’re building a new kind of national capability—Australian-designed, powered by renewables, and ready to meet global demand for energy-efficient intelligence,” Curtis said.
In July 2025, Firmus announced the establishment of the AI Factory Zone describing it as the most sustainable AI facility in the world.
NVIDIA Asia Pacific Senior Vice President Raymond Teh said Australia is embarking on a transformative journey powered by sovereign AI infrastructure that can accelerate innovation across its industries.
“Firmus’s NVIDIA AI infrastructure will support Australia’s leadership in building and deploying efficient, sustainable AI to solve its greatest challenges and shape the next generation of growth,” Teh said.
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