Why would data centres invest in renewable energy projects?

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To meet the federal government’s 82% renewable energy target (RET), the majority of Australia’s current coal fleet must be retired and replaced with approximately 6–7 GW of new large-scale renewable generation annually, along with several gigawatts of storage.

Coal retirements

Nearly every major renewable energy project over the past decade has been heavily subsidised by the government (taxpayers).

Renewable energy subsidies
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Despite these subsidies, Australia’s transition to large-scale renewable energy has slowed to a crawl.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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