獨家：澳洲內陸資料中心因監管機關延宕而取消時程

海倫・克拉克（Helen Clark）與拜倫・凱（Byron Kaye）報導By Helen Clark and Byron Kaye

達爾文/雪梨，11月2日（路透社）——澳洲一座規劃中最大型資料中心之一的開發商，取消了原定的啟用目標日期。此前監管機關表示，需要比平常更長的時間來訂定環境參數，這使澳洲企圖成為人工智慧投資快速審批目的地的雄心受挫。DARWIN/SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The developer of one of Australia's biggest planned data centres scrapped its target start date after a regulator said it needed longer than usual to set environmental parameters, a setback to the country's ambitions to be a fast-track destination for AI investment.

新創公司Energy North表示，該公司已為一座幅員遼闊、以天然氣與太陽能供電的資料中心安排好融資；該中心位於澳洲偏遠北部的一座養牛牧場，距離最近城市683公里（424英里）。四個月前，Energy North在提交給監管機關的文件中，曾把「首次供電」日期訂為2028年6月28日。Startup Energy North, which says it has finance lined up for a sprawling gas and solar-powered data centre on a cattle ranch in the country's remote north, 683 km (424 miles) from the nearest city, had given a "first power" date of June 28, 2028, in regulatory filings four months ago.

但北領地環境監管機關在10月7日的裁定中表示，將暫停原本為期7週、用來決定該專案必須通過哪些門檻的期限；此後，開發商告訴路透社，已取消原本的時程。But after the Northern Territory environment regulator said in an October 7 ruling it was suspending its seven-week deadline to decide what hurdles the project must clear, the developer told Reuters it had scrubbed its timeline.

Energy North專案開發副總裁丹尼爾・杭特（Daniel Hunter）在電子郵件中表示：「我們在轉介文件中列出的2028年6月日期，是提交當時的指標性時程，我們現在已不再以該時程為準。」"The June 2028 date in our referral was an indicative schedule at the time of lodgement, and we're no longer working to it," said Energy North vice president of project development Daniel Hunter in an email.

這是澳洲規模最大的延後時程資料中心專案，也顯示即使在地處偏遠的北部，資料中心雄心仍面臨障礙。北部地區一直試圖在爭取全球「人工智慧工廠」投資的競賽中，與城市區隔開來；麥肯錫預測，到2030年全球將有7兆美元投入這類設施。The project is the biggest in Australia to put back its timing and shows how data centre ambitions face hurdles even in the isolated north, which has sought to differentiate itself from cities in the contest for the $7 trillion McKinsey forecasts will be invested in "AI factories" globally by 2030.

北領地寄望以大量無人居住土地與日照吸引專案進駐——在一個面積為德州兩倍、人口26萬、日照量與撒哈拉沙漠相當的地區——並以一處剛啟用的大型頁岩氣儲量作為備援電力來源。The Territory is counting on luring projects with its vast supply of uninhabited land and sunshine — 260,000 residents in an area twice the size of Texas, with as much sun as the Sahara — and a huge just-opened shale gas reserve for backup power.

但在暫停Energy North的審查時，北領地監管機關表示，將向聯邦政府尋求建議；聯邦政府正「為資料中心與人工智慧基礎設施開發商制定政策期待」。監管機關沒有提出新的時程。But stopping the clock on Energy North, the Territory's regulator said it would seek advice from the federal government, which is "developing policy expectations for data centres and AI infrastructure developers", and gave no new timeframe.

杭特表示，該專案未受影響，並會在監管機關列出環境影響說明書的條件後確認時程；該說明書旨在辨識並處理潛在不利影響。他拒絕透露已安排由誰為該專案提供融資。Hunter said the project was unfazed and would confirm timing once the regulator sets out terms for an environmental impact statement, required to identify and address potential adverse effects. He declined to say who is lined up to finance the project.

偏遠北領地也無法免於反彈ISOLATED TERRITORY NOT IMMUNE TO PUSHBACK

Energy North的「戰神計畫」（Project Ares）規模為1吉瓦，是開發商NextDC本月因能源供應疑慮而延後的墨爾本資料中心擴建案的4倍，也是嘉民集團（Goodman）在雪梨因居民反彈而撤回的專案的10倍。At 1 gigawatt, Energy North's "Project Ares" is four times the size of a data centre expansion in Melbourne delayed this month by developer NextDC due to energy supply concerns and 10 times the size of a project pulled by Goodman in Sydney amid resident pushback.

曾為基礎設施專案撰寫環境影響說明書、並為政府提供諮詢的都市規劃師亞當・貝克（Adam Beck）表示：「我們過時的規劃架構，並不是為這類提案設計的。」"Our antiquated planning frameworks weren't designed for proposals like this," said Adam Beck, an urban planner who has written environmental impact statements for infrastructure projects and advises governments.

他說：「撕毀時程在某種程度上是標準流程，但我不會低估缺乏社會認可這件事。社群確實有某種程度升高的疑慮，而且這正在實際專案上反映出來。」"Tearing up timelines is kind of standard process, but I'm not going to discount the lack of social license. There is a certain heightened level of concern by the community, and that's playing out on real projects."

在對Energy North擬議的191平方公里（74平方英里）資料中心園區作出的裁定中，北領地環境保護局警告，該園區包含燃氣渦輪系統、太陽能電廠、簡易機場以及可容納4,300名建築工人的住宿設施，可能造成10項影響，從加重供水系統負荷到干擾原住民聖地不等。In its ruling on Energy North's proposed 191 sq km (74 sq mile) data centre campus, including a gas turbine system, solar farm, airstrip and accommodation for 4,300 construction workers, the Territory's Environment Protection Agency warned of 10 impacts, from straining water systems to disrupting Aboriginal sacred sites.

該局表示，對於「擬議措施在管理潛在重大影響方面的有效性」信心程度「偏低」。It said it had a "low level of confidence in the effectiveness of proposed measures to manage potential significant impact".

北領地商務部長蘿賓・卡希爾（Robyn Cahill）先前曾表示，她的政府正與12個資料中心相關專案洽談；她未回應採訪請求。Northern Territory business minister Robyn Cahill, who has said her government was talking to 12 data centre-related projects, didn't respond to requests for comment.

可行性成為焦點FEASIBILITY IN FOCUS

希望與現實之間的落差，並不限於Energy North的專案。比塔盧能源（Beetaloo Energy）已提議在達爾文附近興建一座資料中心，規模為戰神計畫的兩倍。根據該公司估計每吉瓦需200兆焦耳的說法，該中心每天將使用最多400兆焦耳的天然氣。The gap between hope and reality isn't limited to Energy North's project. Beetaloo Energy has proposed a data centre near Darwin, twice the size of Project Ares. It would use up to 400 terajoules of gas a day, based on an estimate it gave of needing 200 terajoules per gigawatt.

這是比塔盧盆地唯一正在生產的專案——Tamboran的雪南多亞南專案——目前天然氣流量的10倍。比塔盧能源的目標是在年底前開始少量生產。That is 10 times the volume of gas flowing from the Beetaloo Basin's only producing project, Tamboran's Shenandoah South. Beetaloo Energy aims to start producing a small volume by year-end.

光是這兩座資料中心的總規模就將達3吉瓦，約為整個北領地電網尖峰需求的10倍。兩家公司都表示，其能源最終將結合再生能源與自有燃氣發電，繞過電網。北領地另外10個專案的細節尚未公開。Just those two data centres would total 3 gigawatts, about 10 times peak demand on the entire Territory's grid. Both companies said their energy would ultimately combine renewables with their own gas-fired power, bypassing the grid. Details of the other 10 Territory projects haven't been disclosed.

另一方面，在這個四分之一人口為原住民的領地，原住民諮商需要交通往返、口譯人員與多次拜訪；加快程序「並不會產生迅速的同意」，原住民團體北部土地委員會（Northern Land Council）在提交給一項進行中的聯邦調查的意見書中表示。Aboriginal consultation in a territory where a quarter of the population is Indigenous, meanwhile, needs travel, interpreters and repeat visits, and expediting it "does not produce prompt consent", Aboriginal group the Northern Land Council said in a submission to an ongoing federal inquiry.

北領地牧牛人協會（Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association）執行長羅米・凱瑞（Romy Carey）表示，該協會期待資料中心開發能搭配「有效且適當執行的監管，以保障牧場經營，以及兩個產業都仰賴的土地、水與環境」。The Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association expected data centre development with "effective regulation, properly enforced, that safeguards pastoral operations and the land, water and environment both industries depend on", said CEO Romy Carey.

曾任北領地首席部長辦公室政策主管、現於查爾斯達爾文大學（Charles Darwin University）任教的羅爾夫・格里森（Rolf Gerritsen）表示，北領地政府可以推翻利害關係人的反對，但若申訴進入聯邦法院或高等法院，情況就不同。The Territory government can override stakeholder objections but not when a complaint goes to the federal or High Court, said Rolf Gerritsen, a former policy head for the Territory chief minister's office who teaches at Charles Darwin University.

他說：「如果反對團體增加……不論開發提案是什麼，確實往往會讓事情卡住。」"If you've got increased opposition groups … whatever the development proposal is, it does tend to tie it up," he said.

（海倫・克拉克與拜倫・凱報導；索納利・保羅編輯）(Reporting by Helen Clark and Byron Kaye; Editing by Sonali Paul)