#plumpton

These data centres are privately owned and operated - despite support from state governments. This support has been justified by claims that these data centres will create new local jobs. The Plumpton developers claim that their mega-centre will create 12,000 jobs. In reality, most of the jobs created by data centres come from the construction of them - as many jobs could be created by any large infrastructure project. There are few long-term prospects of employment generated by data centres, as most run with only a small fleet of technicians, especially in relation to the costs of construction and size of the facility.

The other argument being peddled for these data centres is that they will put Victoria (and Australia) in a position to capitalise on the "AI boom". Unfortunately for the 'boomers' out there, it really looks like we're actually in an AI bubble. Basically, the current trend in AI is almost entirely propped up by circular investments and overvaluation of stocks. In other words, it's a tech company circle jerk. Last year, the Australian Financial Review said it was "close to a full Ponzi". As of yet, AI hasn't proved profitable to any of its major investors and developers, excepting Nvidia, who has raked in over $250 billion - and I don't see any state governments pushing for local chip manufacturing. In effect, AI isn't a stable investment for the nation's future.

While there are other major drivers of the demand for more data centres, including increased use of cloud computing, and increasing ordinary daily traffic (everything from posting on Tumblr to e-mailing your union delegate and beyond), AI takes up a significant portion of the capacity. With low estimates suggesting AI currently comprises 20% of data centre usage - jumping up to 40% by 2030, to middling estimates of 40% current usage (USA) going up to 54% by 2030, and high end estimates placing current usage at 50% and climbing to as much as 70% by 2030. All that to say, some growth in number of data centres is to be expected, but really the scale that we're seeing as of late has been down to AI.

The Plumpton data centre has been titled the "Victorian AI hub", entirely dedicated to AI. It is the largest data centre ever proposed in Australia at a maximum demand capacity of 2.4 gigawatts. This exceeds the maximum output capacity of Victoria's largest still-operating coal powerplant, Loy Yang A, at 2.21 gigawatts. Loy Yang A currently produces approximately 30% of the state's energy requirements each year and is the largest single power station in Victoria by output. To look at this in another way, the highest ever recorded demand for electricity in Victoria was 10.57 gigawatts, recorded on the 27th of January, 2026. The data centre alone would use 23% of that, operating at maximum capacity - unlike regular usage data centres, AI data centres regularly operate at or close to maximum capacity.

Flags have already been raised in regards to the impact of data centres on Australia's energy usage. The federal government is aiming for net zero emission by 2050 and 82% renewable energy in grids by 2030. The Victorian state government plans to have a 65% renewable grid by 2030 and 95% renewable by 2035, with the closure of the Loy Yang A coal plant scheduled for that year. The developer of the Plumpton data centre, Syncline Energy, has stated that the energy requirements of the data centre will be supported by gas turbines during peak periods.

The rest of the energy demands, Syncline says, will come from renewables. The location in Plumpton would support this, as just last year, the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub, started operation on the site next door to the proposed data centre. The MREH is joint operated by the newly reinstated State Electricity Commission and Equis/GreenPoint, a private renewable developer, who bought the project off the original proposer, Syncline Energy, in 2022.

Local impacts:

The MREH, and neighbouring proposed data centre, lies about 2-3km from the Organ Pipes National Park. The Organ Pipes NP is one of the few National Parks that lie close to the Melbourne urban area. Filled with local wildlife - such as kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, and platypus - and native plants - including 20 rare, threatened, or significant species - it provides an important habitat and sanctuary for native animals. Surveys included in the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas, have shown that the area of the proposed data centre is home to a number of threatened and vulnerable species, including the Tussock Skink, the Striped Legless Lizard, and the Growling Grass Frog. It has been reported that data centres produce a significant amount of noise, with some anecdotal sources suggesting that the hum can be heard from up to 4km from its source. Noise has a significant impact on wildlife, affecting behaviour, reproduction, and species distribution. As much as 55 db during a 24h period can be detrimental to wildlife, but at data centres, which run 24/7, decibels can regularly exceed that, with noise reaching 96 db inside data centres. As most data centres have been constructed near urban areas, more data has been collected on the impacts to human health than on wildlife, and we do not fully know the extent of how the noise, light, and heat produced by a data centre can impact local biodiversity.

The Organ Pipes NP, along with the proposed Plumpton data centre, lies within one of Melbourne's green wedges. These green wedges are specifically designated for agriculture, low impact infrastructure, biodiversity areas, and cultural heritage sites.

That last one is particularly important for the area we're looking at. The Organ Pipes NP is situated alongside the Jacksons Creek/biik wurdha, one of the major tributaries of the Maribyrnong River. From a location on the Maribyrnong now known as Solomon's Ford, in Avondale Heights, up through Brimbank Park, back through the Organ Pipes, and up into Sunbury, is a cultural heritage landscape. This area, sometimes known as the Keilor Plain, was formed by a lava flow millions of years ago. Erosion of these lava flows form "stony rises" - which are important places for the Wurundjeri, and were sites for education and manufacture.

To place this area in it's archaeological context - Sunbury is home to the Sunbury Rings, a Wurundjeri ceremonial site, that has connections to the nearby Jacksons Creek/biik wurdha and to Songlines (spiritual/historical pathways that are both oral traditions and physically embodied in the landscape). All waterways have cultural and spiritual significance to Aboriginal Peoples across Victoria, so the proximity of the rings to the creek is significant, especially as this water system connects multiple cultural places. Also along Jacksons Creek/biik wurdha, the Organ Pipes NP is recognised as a key feature of a cultural landscape, with many cultural deposits noted within the park. At the confluence of the Maribyrnong and Arundel Creek, is a site called Murrup Tamboore, which is a burial place for Ancestral Remains and has a history of occupation dating to at least 30,000 years ago. Just south of Marrup Tamboore are a series of river terraces near Brimbank park where there are numerous occupation and quarry sites, including another known burial site. For the paleontologists, there are also Pleistocene megafauna remains in this area.

Closer to the proposed data centre site, the area directly south of the proposed site, on the other side of the Melton Highway, was surveyed as part of a housing development planning scheme back in 2013/2014. This survey found low density artefact scatters, particularly in low-lying drainage areas. The proposed area for the data centre has a number of drainage channels, which are the headwaters for the Taylors Creek. It should be noted, that while all named waterways have default heritage zoning, unnamed waterways, such as these drainage channels, have no such automatic zoning.

Based on recent VicPlan data, it also looks like there was a CHMP (cultural heritage management plan) undertaken for the MREH. While it will take awhile for these surveys to become public, the VicData map [below] clearly shows a large area that has been registered as one or more Aboriginal Cultural Heritage sites. [Registered Aboriginal Places are marked in dark green]

Now could Syncline Energy pull a Juukan Gorge? No. Victoria has much better heritage protections than WA, all Aboriginal Cultural Heritage is protected, regardless of whether it is registered. However, despite these protections, the way cultural heritage in Victoria is usually protected is site based - not landscape based. This region, currently protected by the green wedge zoning, represents an interconnected heritage landscape. The archaeological, cultural, ecological, and spiritual values of this landscape would likely be disrupted by the construction of a "mega" data centre. Likewise, the values protected by the designation of the Organ Pipes as a National Park would be harmed by a data centre in the area. With impacts to both the wildlife and visitor enjoyment of the space.

So far, I haven't even touched on the topic of water consumption. While there is movement towards the idea of more efficient use of water in data centres, whether the incentive is there for companies, is in question - by far it is both easier and cheaper to not innovate for less water consumption. And, of course, AI data centres consume more water than ordinary data centres. In Australia, and Victoria particularly, we are prone to extended droughts. The last major drought, the millennium drought, lasted from 1996 to 2010, 100 years earlier, the Federation drought lasted from 1895 to 1902.

We are living in a time of climate uncertainty. Where water may become scarce, where severe climate change becomes irreversible if we don't switch to renewables now. AI data centres threaten that with their demand for water and electricity.

Ordinary data centres may be necessary in our current world, but AI isn't. The big AI companies have sunk their investments into this new technology, with no profit outcome on the horizon. In a sunk-cost-fallacy death spiral, these companies are now trying to sell YOU on AI. They want it to become the norm. Part of everyday life. Inescapable. All this so they profit. And with no care for you, the environment, or anything else they destroy along the way.