> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.sotkn.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A 540 MW Hall, Wind in 2032: Who Gets Paid While AirTrunk’s Kurri Kurri Plan Waits for New Power - URL: https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-wind-2032-november-2026/ - Published: 2026-11-12T08:56:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-12T08:56:52.000Z - Description: Australia now expects new data centres to bring new power with them. AirTrunk's answer for its 540 MW Kurri Kurri plan: 260 MW of solar and a big battery from 2030, up to 350 MW of wind from 2032, and more still needed. The new power is the wait. - Author: Sean - Tags: #market-australia, Markets, #layer-ai-data-centers, #layer-power-energy *AirTrunk wants to build a 540 MW data centre on an old aluminium smelter site in the Hunter. On 12 November it showed where the new power could come from: a solar farm and a big battery from 2030, and a wind farm from 2032\. The stuck step is that new power. The rules now say it has to come with the hall, and it comes later.* **AUSTRALIA PULSE** · AI DATA CENTRES · POWER · Data as at 12 Nov 2026 (AirTrunk 12 Nov; DCD 9 Nov; AEMC submissions 5–6 Nov; ABC 12 Nov) · Next update: a signed power purchase agreement or the Kurri Kurri planning decision **Affects:** [AI Data Centers](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/ai-data-centers/) · [Hyperscalers](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/hyperscalers/) — Markets: [Australia](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/) · [Malaysia](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/malaysia/) · [Singapore](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/singapore/) · [US](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/) **In short:** On 12 November 2026 AirTrunk and European Energy Australia signed an exclusivity agreement to develop a 260 MW solar farm, a battery of more than 800 MWh and a wind farm of up to 350 MW in the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone. They are talking about a long-term power purchase agreement to supply AirTrunk’s NSW sites, including its proposed 540 MW data centre at Kurri Kurri. Solar and battery are expected to start in 2030 and wind in 2032\. Three days earlier AirTrunk was named as the company behind Kurri Kurri and a new campus at Mickleham in Melbourne. The Kurri Kurri planning file, which lists 550.5 MW of total power use, sits at step five of eight. AirTrunk itself says more generation and firming will be needed. Builders and electricians are paid first. Stuck step: the new power. Map of who gets paid — not a buy list. Education only, not advice to buy or sell any security. A megawatt (MW) is a thousand kilowatts, roughly what a large shopping mall draws at full tilt; a megawatt-hour (MWh) is one megawatt for one hour. A$ is the Australian dollar. Our own sums are labelled. This piece is about where the power for a big NSW data centre comes from. It does not re-tell our 26 October piece on the NSW grid-upgrade fee for the same site ([who pays for the wires at Kurri Kurri](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-data-centre-grid-fee-october-2026/)). That one asked who pays for the wires. This one asks who makes the electricity, and when. ### The numbers that matter this week Kurri Kurri data centre 540 MW 550.5 MW total power use in the planning file · not approved Proposed New solar + battery 260 MW · 800+ MWh Hunter-Central Coast zone · expected 2030 Exclusivity New wind Up to 350 MW Same zone · expected 2032 Later Planning stage Step 5 of 8 Response to Submissions (NSW Planning Portal) Waiting Electrical contract (Fredon) \~A$240m From builder Shape · project not named · 11 Nov Paid The new power 2030–2032 AirTrunk: more generation and firming still needed Stuck step AirTrunk, 12 Nov 2026; DatacenterDynamics, 9 Nov 2026; NSW Planning Portal SSD-128819490; NRW Holdings, 11 Nov 2026\. Status chips are Second Order’s read. **On this page:** [Why it matters](#why-it-matters) · [The power deal](#the-deal) · [The site](#the-site) · [The rules](#the-rules) · [The cost fight](#cost-fight) · [The paused one](#tungkillo) · [Our math](#our-math) · [Who gets paid](#money-goes) · [What is stuck?](#still-stuck) · [Dates next](#dates) · [FAQ](#faq) ## Why does a solar and wind deal matter for an AI data centre? Picture a family that wants to build a big new house in a town that is short of water. The council says yes, maybe, but only if you bring your own water tank and fill it yourself. So the family orders the tank. The builder can put up the house in a year or two. The tank, and the rain to fill it, take longer. The house is not the wait. The water is. That is roughly where big data centres in New South Wales now stand. An AI data centre turns electricity into computing, and a large one draws as much power as a small city. In Australia, the federal government now expects new data centres to add new clean generation or storage to cover their demand, and the NSW guidelines expect operators to fund the extra supply and the wires their projects need, without passing the net cost to households. AirTrunk’s own release quotes both. So for the next wave of halls, the question is no longer just whether the grid can connect them. It is whether the builder has lined up new power to match, and when that power arrives ([what an AI data center is](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/what-is-an-ai-data-center/); [how much power one uses](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/how-much-power-does-an-ai-data-center-use/)). AirTrunk’s 12 November deal is the first public answer for one of the largest single data centre applications in the state. ## What did AirTrunk and European Energy agree? On 12 November 2026 AirTrunk, the hyperscale data centre company owned by Blackstone and the Canadian pension fund CPP, said it had signed an exclusivity agreement with European Energy Australia, a renewable developer, builder, owner and operator. Exclusivity means the two will work only with each other on these projects for now. It is not a contract to buy power. There are two projects, both in the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone, an area the state has set aside to connect new generation. The first is a 260 MW solar farm paired with a battery of more than 800 MWh. The second is a wind farm of up to 350 MW. AirTrunk says that together they could add more than a gigawatt of new generation and storage. A gigawatt is a thousand megawatts; the headline adds the megawatts of the farms to the megawatt-hours of the battery, which are different units, so treat it as a size badge rather than one number. The timing is the part that matters. The solar farm and the battery are expected to start operating in 2030, and the wind farm in 2032\. European Energy plans to connect them to Ausgrid’s upgraded 132 kV network in the zone, subject to final connection arrangements, approvals and more technical studies. The two companies are discussing a long-term power purchase agreement to supply AirTrunk’s NSW energy needs, including the proposed Kurri Kurri campus. A power purchase agreement is a long contract in which a buyer agrees to take a generator’s output, or its financial value, at an agreed price for many years. It is what lets a developer borrow to build the farm ([power purchase agreements explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/power-purchase-agreement-explained/)). Without it, the farm is a plan. With it, the bank has a customer to lend against. AirTrunk was candid about the gap. Its energy executive Sabooh Whitelaw said the Hunter projects are an important step, “but more renewable generation and firming will be needed to support Kurri Kurri and AirTrunk’s wider NSW needs.” Firming means power that can be counted on when the sun is down and the wind is still, such as batteries, hydro or gas. Founder and chief executive Robin Khuda put the principle plainly: “Digital growth must bring new energy with it.” The same release said the two companies have already worked together on the 31 MW Mulwala Solar Farm in NSW, which officially opened this week and is supplying the grid. It also said about 73% of AirTrunk’s electricity use across its portfolio was matched with renewable energy in its 2026 financial year, against a target of 100% by 2030. ![Chart of megawatts: the 550.5 MW Kurri Kurri data centre against the 260 MW solar farm, up to 350 MW wind farm and 31 MW Mulwala solar farm AirTrunk is working with European Energy Australia on](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/11/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-wind-2032-november-2026-print.png) Nameplate megawatts look close. The timing does not. · Education only. ## What is AirTrunk planning at Kurri Kurri and Mickleham? Kurri Kurri first appeared in June as an application filed by a project manager, with no end user named. On 9 November DatacenterDynamics reported that AirTrunk had come out as the company behind it. The plan is a large two-storey data centre of 540 MW on a 21-hectare part of the former Hydro Aluminium smelter at Loxford, about 167 kilometres north of Sydney and 37 kilometres from Newcastle. The smelter closed in 2014\. The site sits next to Snowy Hydro’s Kurri Kurri gas power station. The NSW Planning Portal lists the project as State Significant Development SSD-128819490, for the construction, fit-out and operation of a data centre with total power consumption of 550.5 MW. The 540 MW in AirTrunk’s and DCD’s description and the 550.5 MW in the file describe the same plan; we use 550.5 MW for power sums because it is the total in the official record. The file is now at “Response to Submissions”, step five of eight, after public exhibition. Assessment, a recommendation and a determination are still ahead. We covered the file’s detail in October ([the Kurri Kurri grid fee](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-data-centre-grid-fee-october-2026/)). The public submissions on the portal are mostly objections. They raise noise from cooling equipment, diesel backup generators, bushfire risk, local wildlife, and above all where the power will come from and who will pay. Several ask that the site run on new renewables it has paid for before it opens. These are residents’ views, not findings, but they show what the decision-makers will be weighing. Melbourne is the other half of the news. AirTrunk said on 9 November that it is behind a proposed campus at 45 Donnybrook Road, Mickleham, about 35 kilometres north of the city. DCD reported up to seven buildings on the site, close to the Kalkallo zone substation. AirTrunk did not give a megawatt figure in its release. It said the campus would use air cooling and not draw community water for cooling in normal operation, that it would fund the infrastructure to connect the campus to the Victorian transmission network, and that it would match the site’s electricity use with renewables. It also put money on the table for the community: A$26.5 million, subject to approvals, made up of A$6.5 million for an electrical and technical skills partnership, A$5 million for sport and recreation, and A$15 million for education and training facilities. DCD added that nearby households could get an A$200 a year discount on a standard electricity bill through Origin Energy, at both Mickleham and Kurri Kurri. AirTrunk is not new to this. In its submission to the energy rule-maker it described itself as having 23 campuses and 3.3 GW of capacity across Asia Pacific and Japan, with five data centres operating in Australia. Its Sydney campus SYD3 raised a large green loan in October ([AirTrunk SYD3’s power-on date](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/australia-airtrunk-syd3-green-loan-power-on-october-2026/)). What is new is that the power for the next sites has to be found and shown in public. ## What do the rules now ask a new data centre to bring? Two layers of government now set expectations. Federally, AirTrunk’s release says, the Australian Government expects new data centres to secure new and additional clean energy generation or storage to offset their demand, while managing their energy use and helping keep the grid secure. In NSW, the Data Centre Guidelines expect operators to fund the additional energy supply and infrastructure their projects need, without shifting net costs to households, businesses or communities. In NSW there is a law behind part of this. In October the state passed an amendment that lets it charge data centres for grid upgrades. In August the energy department had floated default fees of A$200,000 per MW in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong and A$100,000 per MW elsewhere, plus a A$30,000 per MW entry bond. Those were proposals in a consultation paper; in the sources we read, the final rates had not been set ([our October read](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-data-centre-grid-fee-october-2026/)). Put the two together and a big NSW data centre now has three bills in view before it earns a dollar: the wires to connect it, a contribution to upgrades deeper in the grid, and the new generation it is expected to bring. The first two are about the network. The third is about the electricity itself. AirTrunk’s 12 November deal is about that third bill. This is different from the old way. Until recently a data centre asked the network for a connection, paid for it, and bought power from a retailer. The grid and the generators were someone else’s problem. Now the builder is being asked to show where the new electricity will come from. That moves the slow part of the job, building power plants, onto the data centre’s own timeline ([how long it takes to build an AI data center](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-an-ai-data-center/)). ## What are the big operators asking the rule-maker for? The national side of the cost question is now in front of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), which writes the electricity rules for the eastern states. It is consulting on two rule changes, called cost recovery for network augmentations, Packages 1 and 2\. Augmentation is the industry’s word for making the grid bigger. The aim is for data centres to pay their share of grid upgrades without passing those costs on to other users. MLex reported on 11 November that Google, AirTrunk, CDC Data Centres and Equinix broadly support the idea but want safeguards. AirTrunk’s submission, dated 6 November, makes the case in plain terms. It says data centres should pay the prudent and efficient network costs their growth creates. But it argues the starting point should be whether the work would have been needed anyway at the same time and scale. If a data centre only brings an upgrade forward, it should pay for the acceleration or the extra scope, not the whole asset. - Show the whole bill. AirTrunk wants one consolidated view of every connection charge, upstream contribution, network charge, state upgrade fee and scheme contribution, so the same cost is not charged twice. - Fix the price before signing. It asks for a fixed contribution or a binding cost cap before a builder commits money, with overruns the network controls staying with the network. - Pay back the first mover. If a data centre pays for a shared upgrade that later users also use, it wants a rebate or credit. - Let security step down. It argues a fixed ten-year minimum, as proposed in NSW, would not suit every case, and that bank guarantees can tie up capital long before a hall is switched on and earning. - Recognise the staged ramp. Hyperscale campuses fill up in stages, so a slower-than-planned ramp should not be treated as stranded investment. Google’s submission, dated 5 November, asks the networks to draw a “without-load baseline” and compare it with the “with-load solution”, so a new customer pays only for what it adds. It wants an option for the customer to design and build dedicated assets itself, faster and cheaper network alternatives tested first, and a credit if others later use what it paid for. It also objects to a public register of large loads, arguing the details would identify projects even with names removed. ## What happened to the 1,200 MW plan in the Adelaide Hills? On the same morning, ABC News reported that Quantum DC had paused its plan for a 1,200 MW AI data centre at Tungkillo, about 41 kilometres east of Adelaide. The company said it would not apply for development approval this year. Chief executive Alby Tomassi said Quantum DC had “misread” the strength of local feeling. More than 350 people had contacted the company, and the community sent a consolidated list of 432 questions about water, energy, noise, light, traffic, bushfire and farmland. Quantum DC cancelled its November community sessions and said it would set up a panel of independent experts to review its studies and publish the findings. It has not ruled out going ahead later. South Australia’s Premier, Peter Malinauskas, said the episode showed the state needs a strict law on where data centres can be built. We include it because it shows the other way a plan stalls. At Tungkillo the wait is the community and the planning framework; the project has not reached the power question in public. At Kurri Kurri the planning file is moving and AirTrunk has started to answer the power question, but the answer arrives in 2030 and 2032\. Both are reminders that a named campus is not a switched-on campus ([if the campus is named before the plug is approved](https://www.sotkn.com/analysis/if-the-campus-is-named-before-the-plug-is-approved-where-cash-sticks/)). ## What does the arithmetic say? Everything below is our arithmetic from the published figures. None of it is a company forecast. Where we use an assumption, such as how much of the year a solar or wind farm actually produces, we say so. Those output rates are typical round numbers we chose for illustration; they are not from AirTrunk or European Energy. - Nameplate against demand: 260 MW of solar plus up to 350 MW of wind is 610 MW, about 111% of the 550.5 MW in the planning file. On paper it looks like enough. - Energy, not nameplate: a 550.5 MW site running flat out for a year would use about 4,822 GWh (550.5 × 8,760 hours). A gigawatt-hour (GWh) is a thousand megawatt-hours. - Solar output, assumed: at an assumed 25% average output, 260 MW makes about 569 GWh a year. - Wind output, assumed: at an assumed 35% average output, 350 MW makes about 1,073 GWh a year. - Share covered: together about 1,642 GWh, roughly 34% of a full-load year. If the site averaged 70% of its maximum, an illustrative figure, it would use about 3,376 GWh and the two farms would cover about half. - Battery hours: 800 MWh divided by 550.5 MW is about 1.5 hours of the site’s full draw. Useful for evening peaks; not a night’s supply. - Clock: from November 2026 to 2030 is a little over three years; to 2032 a little over five. - Grid fee scale, proposals only: at the proposed A$100,000 to A$200,000 per MW defaults, 550.5 MW would be about A$55 million to A$110 million, plus about A$16.5 million at A$30,000 per MW for the bond. Which rate would apply to Kurri Kurri, and whether these are the final numbers, is not settled in the sources we read. - Tungkillo against Kurri Kurri: 1,200 MW is about 2.2 times 550.5 MW. The point of the energy line is simple. Nameplate megawatts are the size of the machine, not what it makes. Solar works in daylight and wind when it blows, while a data centre runs all day and night. That is why AirTrunk itself says more generation and firming will be needed, and why the gap between 111% on paper and roughly a third to a half in energy is the honest way to read the deal. ![Chart, our illustrative arithmetic: energy a 550.5 MW site would use in a year at full load, against what 260 MW of solar and 350 MW of wind might make at assumed output rates](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/11/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-wind-2032-november-2026-shift.png) Our arithmetic, assumed output rates: about a third of a full year’s use. · Education only. Kurri Kurri: the hall, the new power and the clocks Data centre540 MW (AirTrunk/DCD) · 550.5 MW total in the planning file Planning stageResponse to Submissions · step 5 of 8 New solar + battery260 MW + 800+ MWh · expected 2030 New windUp to 350 MW · expected 2032 Contract statusExclusivity; power purchase agreement under discussion Energy share, illustrative\~34% at full load · \~half at 70% use (our arithmetic, assumed output rates) Battery\~1.5 hours of full draw (our arithmetic) AirTrunk renewable match\~73% in FY26 · target 100% by 2030 AirTrunk, 12 Nov 2026; DatacenterDynamics, 9 Nov 2026; NSW Planning Portal. Sums and output rates marked as ours are Second Order arithmetic and assumptions. ## Who gets paid, and who waits? ![Infographic: who gets paid while AirTrunk's Kurri Kurri plan waits for new power, from electricians and builders to the grid company, the renewable developer, the community and the stuck new-power step](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/11/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-wind-2032-november-2026-infographic.png) Who gets paid / stuck step while the new power is built. · Education only. 1 · Electricians and builders **Who:** Fredon \~A$240m from Shape (11 Nov); data centre fit-outs under way across Australia **Paid:** Paid as work is done Paid 2 · The community and local suppliers **Who:** A$26.5m Mickleham package; A$200 a year bill credit via Origin **Paid:** Paid once approvals land Next 3 · The grid company **Who:** Ausgrid’s upgraded 132 kV network in the Hunter zone **Paid:** Paid through connection and network charges Next 4 · The renewable developer **Who:** European Energy: 260 MW solar + 800+ MWh battery, up to 350 MW wind **Paid:** Paid once a power contract is signed and the farms run Later 5 · The new power **Who:** Exclusivity only; 2030 and 2032; more firming still needed **Paid:** The step the rules now tie to the hall Stuck step First, the electricians and builders. NRW Holdings said on 11 November that its subsidiary Fredon won an electrical services contract worth about A$240 million from Shape, the builder, for a data centre project. NRW did not name the site, the size or the timetable, so we cannot tie it to any campus. But it shows who is paid while the power question is worked out: the people who fit out the power rooms and cable trays. They are paid as the work is done. Second, the community. AirTrunk’s Mickleham package is A$26.5 million, and the A$200 a year bill discount runs through Origin Energy. This money depends on approvals, and it is small next to the cost of a campus. But it is now part of the price of getting a big site through planning, which Tungkillo shows is not a given. Third, the grid company. European Energy plans to connect the farms to Ausgrid’s upgraded 132 kV network in the zone. Network owners are paid through connection and network charges, and the AEMC is now deciding how much of the upgrade bill falls on the data centres that trigger it. That is regulated money with its own approval clock ([how power gets from the grid to the GPU](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/data-center-power-distribution-explained/); [who makes data centre power equipment](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/who-makes-data-center-power-equipment/)). Fourth, the renewable developer. European Energy is paid only when a power purchase agreement is signed and the farms are built and running. Today it has exclusivity, not a contract. For a developer, a hyperscale buyer is a strong customer to bank, which is why the deal matters even before the ink is dry. Who waits. AirTrunk and its owners, who carry the cost of land, design and planning before any rent comes in. The future tenants, typically cloud and AI companies, who cannot use a hall that is not allowed to run. And Sydney, where our earlier Pulses found the grid already tight ([Sydney’s power and leases](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/australia-sydney-data-centre-power-lease-october-2026/); [the pipeline moving to the permit](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/australia-data-centre-pipeline-sydney-melbourne-permit-october-2026/)). ## What is stuck, exactly? The stuck step is the new power: the generation and firming that the rules now expect a big data centre to bring, signed under a contract and switched on. AirTrunk has a site, a planning file that is moving, an electrical supply chain that is busy, and now a named partner for some new renewables. What it does not yet have, in public, is a signed power contract or a power source that runs before 2030. It is not the money: AirTrunk is owned by Blackstone and CPP and has raised large loans before. It is not the builders: electrical contracts are being awarded. It is not, at Kurri Kurri, a lack of demand for halls in NSW. And it is not only the wires: those are the separate fee and rule fight above. It is the electricity itself, on a clock that runs to 2030 and 2032. The honest limit of this read is what we do not know. The sources do not say when AirTrunk wants Kurri Kurri to open, how fast it would fill, or whether it would start on grid power from existing generators while the new farms are built. The rules expect new generation to offset demand; they do not, in what we read, say it must be running on day one. If the hall can start before 2030 and match its use later, the stuck step bites less. If approval is tied to power in place, it bites more. The planning decision will tell us which. This is the same shape we keep finding: the party that owns the slow step sets the timing for everyone else ([where the stuck step moves](https://www.sotkn.com/analysis/where-does-the-stuck-step-move/)). In Malaysia the utility says the hard part is finding the power plants ([TNB needs 9,000 MW more](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/malaysia/malaysia-tnb-9000mw-power-plants-november-2026/)). In the US, Anthropic bought generators and still has to name sites ([Anthropic’s 1.7 GW of generators](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-anthropic-1-7gw-generators-site-november-2026/)). In NSW the builder is now asked to bring the plant itself. Contracted power is not used power, and a power deal under exclusivity is not yet contracted ([contracted power explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/contracted-power-explained/)). ## Which dates test the read? ![Calendar of dates that test the read: AEMC rule change next steps, NEXTDC and Goodman meetings, the Victorian election, the Kurri Kurri planning decision, solar and battery in 2030 and wind in 2032](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/11/australia-airtrunk-kurri-kurri-wind-2032-november-2026-calendar.png) Dates that test the read. · Education only. - 9 November 2026 — AirTrunk named behind Kurri Kurri and Mickleham (DCD); Mickleham community sessions run through November. - 12 November 2026 — AirTrunk and European Energy exclusivity for Hunter solar, battery and wind; Quantum DC pauses Tungkillo. - 19 and 20 November 2026 — Goodman and NEXTDC annual meetings, where Australian data centre power and capital plans may come up. - Date not set — a signed power purchase agreement between AirTrunk and European Energy; the first sign the new power is firm. - Date not set — the AEMC’s next step on the cost-recovery rules, and NSW’s final grid-upgrade fee rates. - Date not set — the Kurri Kurri planning recommendation and determination (steps seven and eight). - 2030 — Hunter solar farm and battery expected to start; AirTrunk’s target to match all its electricity with renewables. - 2032 — Hunter wind farm expected to start. Dates from AirTrunk (12 Nov 2026), DatacenterDynamics (9 Nov), the AEMC submissions, NRW (11 Nov) and ABC News (12 Nov). The Goodman and NEXTDC meeting dates are from our earlier Australia coverage. ## How does this compare with Singapore, Malaysia and the US? Every market we follow is pushing the power problem back onto the builder, in different ways. Singapore rations new data centre capacity and asks winners to bring green power and efficient designs ([Singapore Markets](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/singapore/)). Malaysia’s utility is asking for binding plans and phased connections because demand is outrunning new plants ([TNB needs 9,000 MW more](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/malaysia/malaysia-tnb-9000mw-power-plants-november-2026/)). In the US, buyers are paying up for generators to skip the queue ([Anthropic’s generator deal](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-anthropic-1-7gw-generators-site-november-2026/)). Australia’s version is a rule-based expectation: new halls should come with new clean generation or storage. Second-order read. AirTrunk’s 12 November deal with European Energy is the first public answer to how a 540 MW NSW data centre brings its own new power: 260 MW of solar and a large battery from 2030, up to 350 MW of wind from 2032, under exclusivity rather than a signed contract, and with AirTrunk saying more firming is needed. Electricians and builders are paid now; the renewable developer and the hall’s tenants wait on the power. Watch for a signed power purchase agreement and the Kurri Kurri planning decision. **Get the Wire.** Second Order’s free daily brief on what moved in the AI chip map. [Read the Wire →](https://www.sotkn.com/the-wire/) · [Subscribe free →](https://www.sotkn.com/#/portal/signup) **How we check this.** The solar, battery and wind sizes, the 2030 and 2032 start dates, the Ausgrid connection, the exclusivity and the possible power purchase agreement come from AirTrunk’s own 12 November release. That AirTrunk is behind the Mickleham and Kurri Kurri proposals, and the 540 MW and 21-hectare figures, come from DatacenterDynamics on 9 November and AirTrunk’s Mickleham release. The 550.5 MW and the planning stage come from the NSW Planning Portal. The cost-rule positions come from the companies’ own submissions to the Australian Energy Market Commission. Quantum DC’s pause comes from ABC News, and the Fredon contract from NRW’s release. Every sum we worked out is labelled “our arithmetic”, and any assumption (such as how much of the year a solar or wind farm produces) is labelled as an assumption. Where a source is silent, such as when the Kurri Kurri hall would open, we say so instead of guessing. Price targets and ratings are left out on purpose. The references we used are listed at the end. [Our editorial standards →](https://www.sotkn.com/editorial-standards/) ## FAQ **What did AirTrunk announce on 12 November?** AirTrunk and European Energy Australia signed an exclusivity agreement to progress two renewable projects in the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone in New South Wales: a 260 MW solar farm with a battery of more than 800 MWh, and a wind farm of up to 350 MW. The companies are discussing a long-term power purchase agreement to supply AirTrunk’s NSW needs, including its proposed Kurri Kurri data centre. Solar and battery are expected to start in 2030 and wind in 2032. **How big is the Kurri Kurri data centre?** AirTrunk and DatacenterDynamics describe it as a 540 MW data centre on 21 hectares of the old Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter site. The NSW planning file (SSD-128819490) lists total power consumption of 550.5 MW. It is not approved: the file is at the Response to Submissions stage, step five of eight. **Does the new wind and solar cover the data centre?** Not on its own, and AirTrunk says so: more renewable generation and firming will be needed for Kurri Kurri and its wider NSW needs. On our illustrative arithmetic, with assumed typical output rates, the solar and wind would make roughly a third of the energy a 550.5 MW site would use if it ran flat out all year. The real share depends on how full the hall gets. **What is the stuck step?** The new power. Australia’s federal government expects new data centres to bring new clean generation or storage, and NSW expects operators to fund the extra supply and wires they need. The projects AirTrunk has lined up are under exclusivity, not a signed contract, and start in 2030 and 2032\. Builders and electricians can be paid sooner; the hall’s tenants wait for power that matches the rules. **Is this investment advice?** No. Education only. It maps who gets paid and which step is stuck. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and we leave out price targets and ratings on purpose. --- ### References Outbound links below are nofollow. We list only the sources actually used. Internal sotkn.com links in the body are separate. 1. AirTrunk, AirTrunk and European Energy Australia advance >1 gigawatt Hunter renewables and storage partnership, 12 Nov 2026\. [airtrunk.com](https://airtrunk.com/airtrunk-and-european-energy-australia-advance-1-gigawatt-hunter-renewables-and-storage-partnership/?ref=sotkn.com) — the exclusivity agreement for a 260 MW solar project, an 800+ MWh battery and up to 350 MW of wind in the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone, the 2030 and 2032 start dates, the Ausgrid 132 kV connection, the possible long-term power purchase agreement, the 31 MW Mulwala Solar Farm, the 73% FY26 renewable match and AirTrunk’s statement that more generation and firming will be needed. 2. DatacenterDynamics, AirTrunk named as operator behind data center project in Melbourne, Australia, 9 Nov 2026\. [datacenterdynamics.com](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/airtrunk-named-as-operator-behind-data-center-project-in-melbourne-australia/?ref=sotkn.com) — AirTrunk named behind the Mickleham campus and the 540 MW Kurri Kurri smelter-site project, the 21-hectare site beside the Kurri Kurri gas power station, the A$200 a year bill credit via Origin Energy, and the 2024 Blackstone and CPP purchase. 3. AirTrunk, AirTrunk advances plans for proposed Mickleham data centre, 9 Nov 2026\. [airtrunk.com](https://airtrunk.com/airtrunk-advances-plans-for-proposed-mickleham-data-centre/?ref=sotkn.com) — the A$26.5 million community package, air cooling, the pledge to fund the transmission connection and match electricity use with renewables, and the November information sessions. 4. NSW Planning Portal, Kurri Kurri Data Centre (SSD-128819490), accessed 12 Nov 2026\. [planningportal.nsw.gov.au](https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/kurri-kurri-data-centre?ref=sotkn.com) — the current status (Response to Submissions, step five of eight), the 550.5 MW total power consumption, and the published community submissions. 5. AirTrunk, submission to the AEMC on cost recovery for network augmentations, Packages 1 and 2 (ERC0448 and ERC0456), 6 Nov 2026\. [aemc.gov.au](https://www.aemc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-11/airtrunk.pdf?ref=sotkn.com) — AirTrunk’s 23 campuses and 3.3 GW, its five Australian data centres, and its asks: incremental costs only, a fixed contribution or binding cost cap, refunds from later users, security that steps down, and no fixed ten-year minimum. 6. Google, submission to the AEMC on cost recovery for network augmentations, Packages 1 and 2, 5 Nov 2026\. [aemc.gov.au](https://www.aemc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-11/google.pdf?ref=sotkn.com) — the without-load baseline against the with-load solution, the option for a customer to build, and the objection to a public register of large loads. 7. ABC News, Quantum DC halts approval process of Adelaide Hills AI data centre, 12 Nov 2026\. [abc.net.au](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-12/quantum-dc-pauses-tungkillo-ai-data-centre/107376052?ref=sotkn.com) — Quantum DC pausing its 1,200 MW Tungkillo plan, no development application this year, 432 community questions, and the South Australian Premier’s call for a data centre law. 8. NRW Holdings, Fredon awarded circa $240m electrical services contract, 11 Nov 2026\. [nrw.com.au](https://nrw.com.au/fredon-awarded-circa-240m-electrical-services-contract/?ref=sotkn.com) — the electrical services contract of about A$240 million from builder Shape for an unnamed data centre project. Not investment advice. Do your own research. Education only. Map of who gets paid and which step is stuck — not a buy list. More on this desk: [Australia Markets](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/australia/) · [AI Data Centers](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/ai-data-centers/) · [Hyperscalers](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/hyperscalers/) · [all Markets](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/) · [Malaysia Markets](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/malaysia/) · [Singapore Markets](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/singapore/).