Market Review: Completed
Overview
Advice to ECMC: Data centre energy obligation
On 8 May 2026, the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council (ECMC) asked the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) to provide targeted advice on regulatory pathways to require data centres to fully offset their demand by investing in renewable generation and firming, and by providing demand flexibility. ECMC requested that the advice cover implementation pathways and regulatory design options.
The AEMC provided high-level advice to the ECMC for consideration at its 28 July 2026 meeting. The AEMC made four key recommendations intended to work together to meet Energy Ministers’ objectives. The recommendations are based on preliminary analysis and views, and further work is required to refine the options ahead of implementation.
The recommendations are:
Drive new renewable investment through the Renewable Electricity Guarantee of Origin (REGO) scheme by mandating data centres to offset consumption using certificates linked to new renewable generation
Introduce a data centre contract obligation to mandate contracting for firming capacity
Introduce market registration requirements for data centres (or inverter-based loads) to improve visibility, enable voluntary market participation, and provide a regulatory hook to mandate contracting for firming
Support demand flexibility and co-location with generation through connection agreements.
More information
For more information, please see: