AI data centre firm 'accidentally' reveals plan to use farm irrigation water in Tasmania

An artificial intelligence data centre company "inadvertently published" an "internal" note on its FAQ page, saying it plans to use farm irrigation water for one of its proposed centres, but deleted it after questions from the ABC.

Firmus Technologies is building an AI factory in the Launceston suburb of St Leonards and has proposed two more, one in Bell Bay in the state's north and another in Wesley Vale in the north-west.

The company has submitted a development application to Latrobe Council for its Wesley Vale proposal, but the council is waiting for more information from Firmus before releasing the application to the public.

AI factories contain data centre infrastructure, advanced cooling systems and graphics processing units which generate AI tokens — the currency of AI needed for tools such as ChatGPT.

Firmus has been attempting to quell community concerns over its Tasmanian plans.

On the weekend, the company announced community drop-in sessions for its proposed Wesley Vale AI facility, and posted answers to "frequently asked questions" on its website.

It accidentally included a section about water usage.

"Not likely to use Tas Water for this site. They do not have [a] connection to this site," the FAQ section stated.

"[The] majority of our water use for cooling will come from rainwater capture from roof."

After the ABC contacted Firmus, the section was removed.

'No undertaking to Firmus'

Tasmanian Irrigation is a state-owned company that provides water to farmers around the state.

"Our legislative framework is set up to enable the supply of water for agriculture and for hydrogen production.

"Any application for water from industries outside of this would require consideration by the Tasmanian government and engagement with the community, including our customers."

Firmus told the ABC it had not intended to make the information public.

"We have updated our Wesley Vale FAQs on our website to correct some internal information that was inadvertently published," they said.

The company said it had not yet made a formal request to Tasmanian Irrigation.

"Rainwater harvesting and on-site storage are proposed as the primary water solution for the facility and have been designed to meet the project's operational requirements," a spokesperson said.

"Discussions regarding any supplementary water sources are separate to that primary strategy and relate to resilience and contingency planning.

"Initial cooling water requirements are expected to be fulfilled through use of water cart if Tasmanian Irrigation connection is not available prior."

The Firmus website states it only needs a very limited amount of water for its AI factories, as cooling is only required on days where the temperature reaches 26 degrees Celsius.

The company says the Wesley Vale facility, running at its full capacity of 52 megawatts, would use the same amount of water per year as a "restaurant".

Irrigation water for farming, TasFarmers says

Neil Grose, chief operating officer of peak farming body TasFarmers, said it would be "highly unusual" for Tasmanian Irrigation to supply water to a data centre.

"Irrigation water is for irrigating farmland," he said.

"It would concern us that Firmus are planning to use, and are talking about using irrigation water, without going through the proper channels first and talking to people, but most importantly, talking to farmers."

Mr Grose said farmers needed to be confident of their water supply, including in dry seasons.

The only instance of Tasmanian Irrigation agreeing to supply water to a non-agricultural user, Mr Grose said, was the proposed Tamar Scheme, which would support both farmers and hydrogen developments in northern Tasmania.

"That's been very carefully planned, it's gone through legislation, industry and farmers alike have been consulted and agree there is a joint interest in the Tamar Scheme — that hasn't happened with Wesley Vale."

He said TasFarmers was open to speaking with Firmus.

"If they're prepared to provide new infrastructure and invest in new infrastructure, then that's a conversation worth having, but I'm not sure they've started that conversation," Mr Grose said.