SYDNEY: The remote Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island has enough energy capacity to accommodate a new Google data center without impacting local supply, but its arrival could help drive a shift to renewable energy, the island’s largest employer and tech giant said.
Alphabet’s Google announced Monday that it will build a data hub on the small island about 350 km south of Indonesia, which was an earlier Reuters report.
The company also said it would build a submarine cable system connecting Christmas Island to the Maldives and Oman, along with two new data hubs, to “deepen the resilience of internet infrastructure in the Indian Ocean region”.
Google’s plans had raised concerns that there would not be enough power to meet the needs of locals, the island’s phosphate mine and data centre, but Phosphate Resources CEO Nicholas Gan said the supply was more than sufficient for now.
The phosphate company, which employs half of the island’s 1,600 residents, imports diesel to run a generator that powers the mine and meets the needs of the Australian Defense Force.
“The power grid can meet both Google’s requirements and our requirements,” Gan said.
However, capacity would come under pressure if the island’s detention center for asylum seekers or a shuttered resort were to reopen, he said, adding that Google’s arrival strengthens the case for switching to renewable energy, which would be cheaper than importing diesel.
Australia’s infrastructure department is in discussions with Google to ensure energy needs are met without impacting supplies to Christmas Island residents and businesses.
Boom-bust cycle on a remote island
Another two of Google’s planned undersea cables, stretching east of Christmas Island, will land near key Australian military bases. Reuters previously reported. Military experts say such a facility on the island would be valuable for using AI drones to monitor the activities of Chinese submarines.
Google said the island’s data hub would be smaller than some of Google’s other data centers, and that it would share its digital infrastructure with local users.
“The power required for a connectivity hub may still be significant for some smaller locations, and where that is the case, Google is exploring using its power demand to accelerate local investments in renewable energy generation,” the statement said.
Gan, a member of the island’s economic future working group, said Google’s project will bring economic activity to an island 1,600 km from mainland Australia, with a history of cycles of boom and bust as the country faced “the last era before mining”.
About 23 years ago, Australia and Russia planned to build a commercial spaceport on Christmas Island, but it sparked concerns in Indonesia and was never opened, Australian parliament records show.
A casino that opened in 1993 attracted high rollers who arrived by private jet from Jakarta but closed five years later amid an economic downturn in Asia, records show.
A detention center for asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by boat dominated the island for two decades until a shift in Australia’s immigration policy left it largely empty in 2023.
