Anthropic data centre plan draws emissions warning
A planned Anthropic data centre in Queensland’s Western Downs would have electricity demand comparable to 1.5 million Australian households, according to Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
Greenpeace said on 17 September 2026 that the project, which it described as Anthropic’s first Australian site, would be in the middle of the Western Downs coal seam gas fields. The group said the development would entrench gas use and increase climate pollution.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said planning documents showed the first stage of the project could be powered by “behind the metre” gas. “This is an egregious example of Big Tech giants being given carte blanche to drain energy and water, and use polluting gas to fuel their hyperscale data centres,” he said.
Western Downs power demand
Greenpeace said that if the Anthropic data centre plugged into the local grid, the power required would increase Queensland’s electricity grid emissions by around 6.6 million tonnes, or 18%. The group said emissions would rise further if gas-fired power plants were built for the site.
Rafalowicz said AI companies in the United States had used the same approach, which he said had led to a 20% increase in climate pollution from electricity there. Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium on new data centre development until what it described as appropriate guardrails are in place.
