ASX: BTL - Beetaloo Energy Australia
Beetaloo Energy: Just add gas – millions in potential data centre revenues
Beetaloo Energy Managing Director Alex Underwood on 3AW 2GB 4BC 6PR Bulls N' Bears Report
ASX-listed Beetaloo Energy Managing Director Alex Underwood talks to Matt Birney on Bulls N’ Bears about Beetaloo Energy’s grand plan to bring in a heavy weight group to develop a mega Aussie data centre precinct – powered by Beetaloo Energy’s own gas!
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Beetaloo Energy is sitting on a monster gas resource in the Northern Territory’s Betataloo and McArthur basins and is just months away from first gas sales to the NT Government. While that plan is on track, Beetaloo has now set its sights on pulling together a consortium of majors that can collectively create a data-centre hub south of Darwin to be powered by Beetaloo’s own gas - and it appears to be getting plenty of buy in with big players signing MOU’s recently.
RADIO INTERVIEW - TRANSCRIPT
Matt Birney - Welcome to Bulls N' Bears, brought to you today by Northern Territory gas developer Beetaloo Energy
Matt Birney - ASX code BTL.
Matt Birney - I'm Matt Birney, and I'm joined now by the Managing Director of Beetaloo Energy, Alex Underwood.
Matt Birney - Hey Alex.
Alex Underwood - G'day, Matt.
Matt Birney - Okay, so Beetaloo Energy is sitting on a monster gas resource in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo and McArthur Basins, and is just months away from first gas sales to the Northern Territory government. While that plan is on track, Beetaloo has now set its sights on pulling together a consortium of majors that can collectively create a data centre hub south of Darwin to be powered by Beetaloo's own gas, mind you, and it appears to be getting plenty of buy-in with big players signing MOUs recently.
Matt Birney - All right, Alex, firstly, how much land do you need to build a data centre precinct near Darwin, because these things aren't typically small, right?
Alex Underwood - So we've secured 185 hectares under an exclusivity with the NT government, which is about enough for one to two gigawatts of data centre.
Matt Birney - All right, so I see you've started signing partners up to this plan, so it's not just pie in the sky. All in gas major Halliburton has signed on with an MOU. What will Halliburton's role be and what does it bring to the table?
Alex Underwood - So it brings two critical things. First of all, they can provide an integrated field service plan to drill and frack wells for us, but also critically, they can provide power generation into the data centre.
Matt Birney - Now, Australian gas and infrastructure is a massive gas pipeline player, everybody knows them on the East Coast in particular. They've also signed an MOU with Beetaloo Energy, and I'm guessing they're looking to build a pipeline from your project to the data centre precinct. Firstly, is that right? And secondly, isn't there already a pipeline going up to the Northern Territory?
Alex Underwood - So there is existing pipeline connectivity, but we're going to need a much bigger pipeline, and AGIG is proposing to build a 750 km pipeline up to Darwin, which would be much bigger.
Matt Birney - Right. Now, Beetaloo Energy is a gas company, not a data centre operator, so just sort of walk me through it. What's Beetaloo's actual role in this thing? And by the way, how much gas would a project like that swallow up?
Alex Underwood - So data centres use massive amounts of power, and this is about creating a local market for our gas. At a gigawatt of scale data centre, it would need potentially up to 200 terajoules a day, which is hundreds of millions of dollars a year worth of revenue to us, and that's really the core focus for us in this play.
Matt Birney - Now, many people think the Beetaloo Gas Basin in the Northern Territory is going to revolutionise gas supply in Australia, and I note that majors like INPEX and Santos are now starting to muscle in. Data centre project aside, when will Beetaloo Energy start producing gas from the region? How much gas? And who are you going to sell it to?
Alex Underwood - We're going to start selling gas this side of Christmas under a contract with the NT government, and that'll start supplying about 10 terajoules a day into the local market this year.
Matt Birney - Alex Underwood from Beetaloo Energy.
Matt Birney - Thanks for joining me on Bulls N' Bears, and remember, we're only here to give you information, not advice, which you should, of course, seek independently.
Matt Birney - I'm Matt Birney, and this is Bulls N' Bears.
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