Australian Gas Firm Beetaloo Energy Plans Gigawatt-Scale Gas-Powered Data Center Campus Near Darwin

An Australian upstream gas company is making a bold pivot into the digital infrastructure sector, announcing plans to develop an off-grid, gas-powered data center campus outside Darwin. The project underscores a growing trend of energy producers seeking to directly power the booming artificial intelligence and cloud computing industries.

Beetaloo Energy, an ASX-listed company focused on gas resources in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, this week announced the formation of a new wholly owned subsidiary, Beetaloo Digital. The subsidiary will spearhead the development of a massive data center campus on a 185-hectare (approximately 457-acre) site at Weddell, located south of Darwin. The Northern Territory Government has granted Beetaloo exclusivity over the land for this purpose.

The scale of the proposal is significant, with plans for up to 2GW of on-site gas-powered generation. The company estimates the total investment could reach AU$40 billion (approximately US$28 billion). Renderings of the project indicate at least four large-scale data center buildings will be constructed on the campus.

“The Weddell site gives us a strong foundation to advance discussions with potential consortium partners, scale, proximity to existing and planned infrastructure, and Beetaloo Energy’s significant gas resources,” said Alex Underwood, managing director of Beetaloo Energy. He emphasized that the project is not intended to strain local infrastructure. “Beetaloo Digital does not propose to consume power from the Northern Territory grid, we intend to add to it. We intend to overbuild generation capacity, providing the NT the potential to gain a reliable, large-scale baseload electricity source as a direct outcome of this development.”

The project aims to create a vertically integrated energy-to-digital model. Underwood explained that Beetaloo Digital will seek to form a consortium of world-class partners across data center development, power generation, and pipeline infrastructure. “Our proposal has the potential to create a significant new domestic gas market for Beetaloo Energy while supporting long-term economic development in the Northern Territory,” he said. “Hyperscale data centers and AI factories operate continuously, creating a durable, predictable demand profile that underpins long-term field development, accelerates upstream investment, and positions Beetaloo Digital as a potential sustained, large-scale cash flow generator for Beetaloo Energy.”

The chosen site is adjacent to the government’s proposed Darwin Energy Hub, which is designed to host up to 210MW of solar capacity and battery storage on 940 acres. This positioning suggests a potential for hybrid power solutions, combining gas baseload with renewable energy sources. Beetaloo Energy, which owns millions of acres in the Northern Territory and is targeting commercial gas production this year, noted that each gigawatt of data center capacity would require up to 200 terajoules per day of gas, supplied via transmission lines from its gas fields.

The proposal has drawn political support, with Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finnocchiaro highlighting the strategic advantages. “Data center proponents are keen to talk to us because of the promise of reliable and affordable Beetaloo gas-to-power supported by renewables and because of how close and connected we are to major Asian markets and digital superpowers,” she said. “The territory has everything this country needs to be successful, including energy, digital capacity, defense, minerals and agriculture.”

The development remains subject to securing consortium partners and obtaining necessary government and regulatory approvals. If realized, the project would represent one of the largest behind-the-meter gas-powered data center campuses globally, potentially reshaping the energy landscape of the Northern Territory and creating a new demand center for domestic natural gas.