数据中心作为使能基础设施

Prepared by Mandala NOVEMBER 2025 This document is intended for general informational purposes only.The analysis in this report was commissioned for Data CentresAustralia by AirTrunk, Amazon Web Services, CDC Data Centres Mandala is an economics research and advisory firm. Mandalaspecialises in combining cutting-edge data and advanced analytical Views and opinions expressed in this document are prepared ingood faith and based on Mandala’s knowledge and understandingof its area of business, markets and technology. Opinions expressed © November 2025 mandalapartners.comadmin@mandalapartners.com|media@mandalapartners.com ContentsContents Table of contents Executive summary 1. Data centres power Australia’s digital economy 1.1Data centres are at the core of our national digital infrastructure31.2Data centres aggregate energy and water use to power our digital 2. Data centres support Australia’s renewable energy future12 2.1Data centres contribute across all parts of Australia’s electricity system12 2.2Data centres directly support 1.5 terawatt hours of renewable energygeneration in Australia 2.3Data centres are making significant investments in the grid andare forecast to invest an additional $7.2 billion by 2030 17 2.4Meeting Australia’s growing digital needs with on-premise serverscould require 7x more electricity18 3. Data centres in Australia are poised to become leaders in water stewardship 3.1Data centres contribute to the water system and can help enablerecycled water infrastructure 3.2 Data centres continue to pursue innovations in cooling technologiesthat minimise water usage 3.3 Data centres are funding $40 million in pipelines that providethe equivalent water use of 10,000 households 23 3.4Data centres could play a significant role in upgrading Australia’srecycled water infrastructure 4. Coordinated policy action is needed to harness sustainable data centre growth 4.1Accelerate critical infrastructure approvals4.2Promote industry-informed standards and coordination 5. Appendices 5.1Appendix A: Methodology5.2Appendix B: Reference list Executive Data centres have invested $3.1 billion in gridinfrastructure since 2020, with a further $7.2 billionforecast by 2030. This includes $1.1 billion of excess Data centres drive economic growth and Data centres are at the core of Australia’s digitalinfrastructure, underpinning AI, cloud services, andthe digital lives of Australians. Like other productiveindustries, data centres require energy and water.They use energy to power IT equipment, and they use Data centres are over seven times more efficientthan on-premise servers. They save electricity Data centres are currently modest waterusers and are providing capital to invest in Today, data centres consume 3.9 terawatt hours(TWh) of energy annually, or 2 per cent of Australia’sannual electricity consumption. They use the sameamount of electricity as shopping centres in Australia, Investments in innovative cooling technologies,including closed-loop cooling systems, enable Data centres have contributed $40 million to potablewater pipeline upgrades, creating excess capacity Data centres use 5.5 gigalitres (GL), or 0.04 per cent,of potable water nationally. This is seven times less waterthan Australia’s public swimming pools use annually.Data centres consume 0.7 and 0.2 per cent of Sydney and Recycled water represents a major opportunityfor data centres to reduce their potable water use.They are expected to invest between $500 million Data centres generate large economic Effective policy settings can harness datacentre growth in a way that acceleratesAustralia’s clean energy transition while The technology sector, including data centres, generatesaround $12.6 billion in gross value added per TWhof energy consumed. This is higher than mining ($9.1billion per TWh) and manufacturing ($8.8 billion per Accelerating approvals, promoting industry-informedstandards, and facilitating private investment will helpAustralia to position itself as a leading destinationfor sustainable data centre investment. These policy Data centres are not just consumers of energy,they play an active role as investors across the Through power purchase agreements (PPAs) thatunderwrite new renewable projects and on-site solarinstallations, data centres currently support 1.5 TWhof renewable energy generation. This represents Invested in gridinfrastructure Supported throughon-site generation and Power Purchase Agreements Coordinated action is needed to harness sustainable data centre growth Support Accelerate Facilitateprivate Data centresData centrespower Australia’spower Australia’sdigital economydigital economy 1.1Data centres are at the core of our national digital infrastructure Australians are increasingly reliant on data centres to facilitate their digital lives. Everytime we pick up a device to send a message, join a video call, run an internet search,purchase goods, or pay a bill online, we