Data centre firm challenges generator restrictions in Tasmania appeal

Firmus Technologies, an artificial intelligence data centre company, has taken its fight with Tasmania's regulators to the tribunal. In August, the George Town Council approved the company's 288-megawatt facility at Bell Bay, 15 kilometres south of the town, making Firmus the state's largest single power consumer. But the approval came with strings attached—fifteen conditions designed to limit the facility's environmental footprint and operational impact on the surrounding community. Now, less than a month after that vote, Firmus is asking the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to loosen one of the most restrictive of those conditions: the rules governing when and how its diesel generators can run.

Condition 13, as written by the council, is unambiguous. The backup generators may operate only during genuine emergencies, unscheduled power failures, or scheduled maintenance and testing. That testing window is narrow: 8am to 6pm, Monday through Friday, excluding public holidays. The generators cannot be used to supplement the main electricity grid during normal operations, and simultaneous testing of more than one generator is capped at 24 hours per calendar year. Firmus argues this framework is unreasonable. In its appeal, the company contends that the restriction prevents it from using the generators during periods of electricity curtailment, network constraints, or energy market stress—situations where, Firmus claims, the backup power could maintain operational efficiency and grid reliability. The company declined to specify how frequently it expects to deploy the generators beyond these approved scenarios.

The approval process itself was contentious. An online petition against the data centre gathered more than 6,000 signatures. Dozens of residents gathered outside the council chambers before the vote, which passed 6–1 in favour of the project. That opposition has not quieted. Nicholla Thompson, a Rowella resident who moved to the rural riverside community six years ago seeking a quieter life, was among the protesters. She and five neighbours, including Anne-Marie Bastian, have filed their own appeal to TASCAT challenging the council's decision. Their concerns centre on light and noise pollution, degradation of quality of life, and potential damage to the local tourism industry, which includes several wedding venues and award-winning vineyards across the river from the proposed site. Thompson said she was "flabbergasted" to learn of Firmus' appeal when she filed hers. "We need to slow things down and really have a good look before we just start slapping [data centres] up anywhere," she said.

The generator dispute sits within a much larger energy question facing Tasmania. Hydro Tasmania, the state's electricity supplier, is reviewing Firmus' request for 450 megawatts of power across three facilities—equivalent to up to 30 per cent of the state's current energy consumption. The company is pursuing an aggressive expansion: the Bell Bay centre is approved, a 104-megawatt facility outside Launceston is under construction, and a development application has been submitted for a 52-megawatt centre in Wesley Vale, east of Devonport. Hydro Tasmania expects to make a decision on the power allocation by year's end. Before Firmus can begin construction at Bell Bay, it must also submit an updated bushfire and emergency management plan. The company initially reported 276 diesel generators on site but later revised that figure to 128—a discrepancy that triggered the requirement for a new safety assessment.

The appeals process is now underway, with multiple parties contesting the council's decision. Thompson noted that at least three other appeals were listed on the TASCAT website alongside hers and Firmus', though appeals are only visible to interested parties. The tribunal will weigh the company's operational needs against community concerns about pollution, environmental impact, and the pace of industrial development in rural Tasmania. The outcome will shape not only this facility but the precedent for how the state manages the energy demands of data centre expansion.