Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (13:22): My question is for the Minister for Water. Your government has thrown enthusiastic support behind the expansion of data centres across Victoria. Data centres are incredibly resource intensive, requiring enormous amounts of water and energy to remove the heat they generate. The volumes of water we are talking about are immense. It is estimated that the Victorian data centres could use up to 19.6 billion litres of water a year. Currently the water that they use is drinking water, which is largely sourced from already-stressed rivers and groundwater systems. Will the government ban the use of potable water for data centres?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (13:23): I thank Dr Mansfield for her question. It is a question that, by and large, I have been asked a number of times in this place. The answer remains the same, and that is that we do have controls in place regarding water usage by large-scale industrial users. The government’s policy is that large industrial users of water, like data centres, prioritise the use of non-drinking water, including recycled water and stormwater. To ensure transparency for water usage, any non-residential water user that uses over 100 megalitres a year will be publicly reported by their water corporation and identified if they are participating in water conservation programs. If additional capacity for water is needed, there is a new customer contribution charge that is set by the Essential Services Commission and charged by water corporations to the data centre developer. Before providing approval, water corporations must be satisfied that water security and supply can be met without negatively impacting communities and other users. An expert review is being undertaken by DEECA with VicWater, the industry peak body, to ensure existing water-use policies for large industrial users, including data centres, keep pace with this rapidly emerging sector.
Might I add that even in the brief time that this has become quite a debateable issue within the community, the technology advancements that I have seen and have been informed of have been quite eye-opening, to say the least, in terms of the types of energy and water that may or may not be needed in data centres. For example, instead of water there can be other types of fluids that can be used and that stay within the system; they do not go out. There are a whole range of different factors that are in play. Of course there is the work that is being done with VicWater, and the department in particular is investigating all the other technological advancements that are being used to secure the energy that is required for data centres that reduce the impact on things like water, let alone recycled water.
Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (13:26): I thank the minister for that response. You have indicated that large industrial users of water like data centres are required to prioritise use from non-potable sources like recycled water, but we know that upgrades to that sort of infrastructure are very expensive; we do not have a lot of recycled water infrastructure in Victoria. In New South Wales, the water minister there announced last year that data centres in that state would be required to pay for upgrades to water infrastructure so that households will not have to foot the bill for those upgrades to support data centres. Given the significant cost of infrastructure upgrading to deliver non-potable sources of water like recycled water, will you do the same here and make the data centres pay?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (13:27): Of course there are active investigations and discourse happening as we speak in this whole area, but as I have mentioned, there is a new customer contribution charge that is set by the ESC and charged by water corporations to the data centre developer. I think that is new information that might not have been in previous responses to this issue, but that is definitely the case as we stand today.