AEMO's data centre queue went from 5.4GW to 9GW in a quarter. 7.6GW of that is still at the application stage.

AEMO's Quarterly Energy Dynamics report for the June quarter counts 17 proposed data centre projects in the National Electricity Market's transmission connection process, with a combined maximum connection capacity of 9GW. At the end of March the same process held 11 projects and 5.4GW.

Twelve projects, representing 7.6GW, sit at the application stage. Five, carrying 1.4GW between them, are progressing through implementation, which is 0.1GW more than in March. AEMO says these connections are targeting roughly two years from application to energisation.

New South Wales data centre demand averaged 451MW over the June quarter and Victoria 204MW, the two regions AEMO breaks out, so 655MW is drawing power against 9GW in the process. AEMO notes that realised demand is typically lower than connection capacity.

Transgrid has called for a rule change requiring new large users to pay for their full connection capacity whether or not they use it. Chief executive Brett Redman puts the saving to consumers at up to 15% on like-for-like transmission costs.

South Australia holds 17% of the queue, about 1.5GW. In March the queue ran roughly 60:40 between New South Wales and Victoria. IREN, which is Sydney-headquartered and NASDAQ-listed, announced a transmission connection agreement on 3 June for an 800MW campus at Bundey, equivalent to about half the South Australian share.

Energy ministers agreed on 28 July to progress regulatory arrangements mandating that data centres offset their electricity demand by investing in additional renewable generation located in the same jurisdiction, unless that jurisdiction opts out. Queensland and the Northern Territory were the exception. They also opposed a separate agreement to develop National Electricity Rule change requests, which go to the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council in September.

Full write-up: https://certifiedstrategic.com/insights/aemo-data-centre-connection-queue-9gw-q2-2026
AEMO's release: https://www.aemo.com.au/newsroom/media-release/qed-q2-2026
The communique (.docx download): https://www.energy.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-07/ecmc-communique-28-july-2026.docx

Is the 7.6GW at application stage a pipeline, or a set of reserved positions that thins out once holding one costs money?