[LINK] Go-ahead for green data centre

Bernard Robertson-Dunn brd at iimetro.com.au
Wed Feb 25 09:36:19 AEDT 2009


<brd>
I wonder if the Federal Government or TRE are aware of the brave 
predictions that were made at the beginning of the year that:

    "The 10,000 m2 ... of large government data centre space
    the Gershon Report found in Canberra, will be reduced to
    about 100m2."

Someone's going to be disappointed - and wrong.
</brd>

Go-ahead for green data centre
Fran Foo
February 24, 2009
Australian IT
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25096794-15306,00.html

After nearly a year battling for the right to build a $1 billion green 
data centre in Canberra, developer Technical Real Estate hopes to start 
construction by early May.

If all goes according to plan, the 14,000sqm centre could be open by 
July next year, a few months behind schedule.

TRE initially planned a gas-powered data centre in Tuggeranong, but 
residents opposed the project.

The development turned into a political tussle, with the Liberals and 
Greens scoring points against ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope in local 
election campaigns last year.

In December, special legislation was passed to fast-track approval for 
TRE to go ahead with the project.

TRE director Andrew Campbell expects final approval to be granted by the 
end of the month and construction to begin in late April or early May.

TRE will now build its data centre at Hume instead of Tuggeranong. "It's 
a planning issue. We have to move sites, we're ready to do that and get 
going," Mr Campbell said.

TRE was close to signing a tenant and talks with others were promising, 
TRE director Andrew Campbell said.

Federal government support would be a boon to the project.

"We're encouraging and trying to work with the Australian Government 
Information Management Office and other federal departments that need 
data centre space," he said.

British efficiency expert Peter Gershon, commissioned to review 
government technology spending, found that rationalising data centres in 
government departments and agencies would save $1 billion over 10 years.

Companies such as TRE are hoping to benefit from data centre 
consolidation projects at government level, paying close attention to 
environmental requirements.

TRE claims its data centre can produce 40 per cent less greenhouse gas 
per unit of computing output than normal data centres. This is achieved 
partly by taking advantage of Canberra's cool climate and using gas 
instead of coal.

Partners in the project include Canberra power utility ActewAGL, which 
plans to build a 500mW gas-fired power plant for about $650 million in 
South Williamsdale.

The plant will be a crucial second source for Canberra's power grid, 
which is buckling under pressure.

For example, Citrix Systems in the US had to relocate its data centre in 
Florida on a different power grid after encountering capacity constraints.

-- 
 
Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Canberra Australia
brd at iimetro.com.au




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