Moss Vale data centre gas plant could be mothballed once grid supply arrives, court told

Developers of a proposed gas-fired power station for a data centre campus at Moss Vale in the NSW Southern Highlands have told the NSW Land and Environment Court the plant could be mothballed once the grid can meet the site's demand. The court is hearing an appeal by Nakar Property after Wingecarribee Shire Council refused its development application for a 16-megawatt power station and battery energy storage system. The $23 million project is one of three stations planned to power a campus proposed by Sydney company Cloud Carrier.

Barrister James Smith, for Nakar Property, told the court the plant was needed to give customers of the centre constant power. He said Cloud Carrier's investment in computers was about $1 billion and that the fundamental requirement was firm supply. Smith said Cloud Carrier "can't sell any product unless there is firm supply".

In opening submissions, Smith said the developers would stop using gas as soon as a reliable grid supply could be secured. He told the court the saving from connecting to the grid was approximately $14 million per year. Smith said there was a "clear financial incentive to use the grid when that power becomes available", but that there was not sufficient supply. Citing expert reports, he said the plant was projected to emit less greenhouse gas than grid power until approximately 2029.

Michael Staunton, for Wingecarribee Shire Council, said grid supply had been touted as a "panacea" for the project but had not been investigated thoroughly. Staunton told the commissioner that the work should have been done and that the documents would show it had not been. In cross-examination he argued the project would lack the secure power to fill the data centre's servers for two years, until an upgrade of a nearby Endeavour Energy substation is completed. He said the time could be spent negotiating with Endeavour Energy while waiting for a permanent connection.

The council also tendered draft conditions of consent mid-hearing, including a new requirement for canopy trees across approximately 40 per cent of the site. Air-quality, electrical and engineering consultants appeared as witnesses for cross-examination. The second day of hearings before Commissioner Nicola Targett followed a site inspection on Tuesday, and the matter returns to court on Thursday for a third day.