FuturePlace: As Chief Renewables Officer at ENGIE, you’re at the forefront of Australia & New Zealand’s clean energy transition. What role do you see renewable energy playing in the future of data centre power infrastructure?

Laura Caspari: The future of data centre power infrastructure lies in strategic partnerships between large-scale, multi-technology renewable energy generation and storage sites.

By co-locating energy-intensive users, such as data centres, with these renewable energy hubs, we can reduce energy costs for data centre operators as well as overcome one of the major hurdles in the clean energy transition in Australia – the slow build-out of transmission infrastructure.

This can potentially open more transmission capacity for other renewables projects and ease pressure on the grid, by avoiding the need to transport so much clean energy long distances.

There are technical and economic factors that currently favour locating data centres in or close to metropolitan areas. And for certain types of data centres, this will remain the case, and virtual power purchase agreements are another solution. However, to achieve a truly firmed 24/7 power supply, free from the limitations imposed by grid constraints, we must explore the potential of enabling co-location of data centres with large-scale renewable energy projects.

FuturePlace: With hyperscale data centres rapidly expanding, energy demands are increasing exponentially. How can operators balance the need for growth with the urgency of sustainability?

Laura Caspari: One effective approach to achieving this balance is through the implementation of Green Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). These agreements can be customised to align with the sustainability targets of data centre operators, providing a flexible and tailored solution.

An excellent example of this is the recent ENGIE agreement with Google in the United States to provide renewable energy through a PPA.

Additionally, the upcoming Australian Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) scheme will enable the time matching of renewable energy generation and load, allowing operators to achieve a more precise and sustainable balance between their energy consumption and production.

FuturePlace: Many data centre operators are looking to PPAs as a way to secure long-term access to renewable energy. What are the advantages of these agreements, and how is ENGIE working with data centre operators to make them a reality?

Laura Caspari: PPAs offer numerous benefits, including contributing to a company’s sustainability goals, ensuring energy security, and potentially locking in cost savings through fixed costs. This can be a hedge against rising power prices, which is certainly a real risk in today’s geopolitical climate.

By collaborating with a global energy utility like ENGIE, data centre operators can mitigate various financial, operational, and regulatory risks, accelerating decarbonisation and helping companies achieve their sustainability targets.

FuturePlace: One of the biggest hurdles for data centres is securing reliable, renewable power at scale. What are the key challenges and solutions when it comes to integrating data centres into Australia’s evolving energy grid?

Laura Caspari: One potential solution to improve data centres’ access to power at scale is to move them away from major demand centres, like big cities. By relocating data centres away from residential and industrial demand areas, the demand profile does not compete with these sectors.

Moreover, major transmission lines are generally located away from population centres, opening up opportunities for co-location or behind-the-meter generation. Co-locating data centres with renewable energy generation and storage projects reduces the grid demand requirements of the data centre and, importantly, the associated operational expenditure power costs. It also alleviates grid connection capacity constraints for renewable generation.

FuturePlace: ENGIE is a global leader in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. Can you share some of ENGIE’s most exciting projects or partnerships supporting data centre decarbonization?

Laura Caspari: In 2024, ENGIE signed major deals with leading tech players like Google and Meta in the United States and Europe, providing green power from solar farms in Texas and wind farms in Belgium, for example.

These companies require vast amounts of electricity to power their data centres, and PPAs allow them to secure large volumes of green energy at a fixed price.

As we know, data centres produce a lot of heat, which has to be managed. In another innovative development, major European data centre company Equinix launched a new facility in Paris, France, and excess heat from the facility will be channeled to the local heating network in partnership with ENGIE.

FuturePlace: Many data centres are exploring battery storage and microgrid solutions to enhance energy resilience. How do you see these technologies evolving, and how can they help address the industry’s growing energy demands?

Laura Caspari: Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are crucial for balancing the electricity grid in real time, especially as Australia transitions to variable renewable energy sources like solar and wind, with the ability to store excess renewable energy when it’s plentiful and discharge it as needed.

As data centres move away from highly interconnected parts of the grid to locations closer to higher voltage backbone infrastructure, the importance of BESS and microgrid solutions will grow. Major transmission routes offer significant supply potential but come with different risk profiles that can be mitigated through the use of these technologies.

FuturePlace: Governments are placing increasing pressure on industries to reduce carbon footprints. What policy changes or incentives do you think will have the biggest impact on data centre energy strategies?

Laura Caspari: The most obvious enabler to attract data centres to Australia is financial support, which can take the form of tax incentives, streamlined approvals or direct subsidy – the latter being critical for new and emerging technologies. AusTrade, for instance, has been very helpful in promoting Australia as a destination and unlocking Federal and State funding streams.

Today, the Australian Government does have some tax incentives and funding available for energy-efficient data centres and the reduction of greenhouse gases in industrial activities (under the Clean Building Managed Investment Trust and the National Industrial Transformation Program).

More progress in this area could involve expanding incentives such that data centres are rewarded for locating in regional centres to encourage economic development in these areas and deliver the benefits of additional renewable energy projects.

FuturePlace: At the Data Centre Real Estate Summit, you’ll be sharing insights on the energy transition for data centres. Without giving too much away, what are some key themes you’ll be addressing?

Laura Caspari: Without giving too much away, my focus will be on how we apply innovation and lateral thinking in our approach to the more complex challenges of our energy transition. We cannot keep approaching our shared problems using old-world tools, by treating “perfection” as the enemy of “good”, or by striving for consensus as our licence to act.

As the data centre industry navigates a future shaped by exponential growth and evolving energy demands, the need for sustainable, scalable power solutions has never been greater. At the Data Centre Real Estate Summit, Laura Caspari will share her expertise in two key sessions: Powering the Future: Data Centres & Australia’s Energy Grid, where she will explore strategies to balance energy demands with grid stability, market participation, and renewable energy integration alongside Richard Pawlik (AusNet), Keith Middleton (Middleton Group), Colin Crisafulli (Endeavour Energy), and Matt Gurr (AECOM). In Charting the Latest Developments in the Data Centre Sector, she will examine growth drivers, investment opportunities, and the evolving role of Australia in the APAC data centre market, joined by Paul Dwyer (ESR) and Andrew Green (Datacom). Join Laura and an esteemed panel of industry leaders as they tackle the critical challenges and opportunities shaping the sector’s future. Click here to learn more and secure your place at the event.