Firmus 26MW AI research facility approved at Wesley Vale without a council vote

Firmus has been granted approval to turn an existing warehouse at the former Wesley Vale pulp mill, in Tasmania's north-west, into a 26-megawatt AI research and development facility. Under the state's planning scheme the application did not have to be advertised or put to councillors. Council staff signed it off and the general manager formalised the decision.

Firmus said the facility will carry computing hardware running AI workloads for customers, alongside a research program into cutting reliance on backup power such as diesel generators. Co-founder and principal engineer for research and development Jonathan Levee said Tasmanian engineers would use it to trial new ways of operating AI infrastructure. He said the work draws on software developed and patented in Tasmania, aimed at making AI computing respond to grid conditions, and would test whether batteries could reduce diesel use.

Firmus expects about 70 jobs during construction and 20 ongoing roles once operating. It said dry cooling will be used for most of the year, with annual cooling water use estimated at approximately 224,000 litres, drawn mainly from rainwater collected on site and subject to final design and operating conditions. Construction is planned seven days a week, with reduced weekend hours.

The facility is distinct from a proposed 26-megawatt Firmus data centre at the same site, which Latrobe Council has asked the state government to assess as a major project. That proposal covers about three hectares at 174 and 226 Mill Road and carries a proposed investment of about $2.1 billion. ABC News reported that Firmus, which plans three AI data centres in Tasmania, pulled its public share offering last month after investor interest cooled.

Outgoing Latrobe mayor Peter Freshney said the handling was standard for applications that fit the relevant use class. He told 936 ABC Radio Hobart that an application needing discretion would have been advertised and gone before council. Freshney said the scheme "doesn't provide a rigorous and robust assessment of these emerging technology development applications". He added that the outcome "does seem rushed".

Local resident Erin Woodcock said she felt shut out of the process. According to unconfirmed minutes, community members put questions to the October council meeting on the building's footprint, its power supply, planned diesel generator use and the council's ability to assess a project of this scale. Planning and Housing Minister Kerry Vincent defended the process, saying it was "entirely appropriate for developers to rely on the planning system when determining where to invest". He said the government had put out draft expectations for data centres and AI infrastructure and wanted major AI developments to deliver for local communities.

At a parliamentary inquiry on 4 November, Environmental Defenders Office managing lawyer Mae Tanner called for a moratorium on large data centre approvals until planning and environmental laws are reformed. The EDO wants data centres treated as their own use class, with large ones automatically referred to the Environment Protection Authority at a suggested threshold of 30 or 50 megawatts. Tanner said the existing utilities and research and development classes, under which the Firmus proposals were assessed, were not designed for data centres. She said referrals to date had been triggered only by the fuel-burning capacity of backup diesel generators. The EDO also wants large data centres legally required to bring at least 100 per cent new renewable energy before they operate, with continuing energy and water reporting.