Australia data centre firm NextDC reports rising water, energy use with profit beat

Australian data centre developer NextDC said water and energy consumption rose in the past year as demand for computing capacity drove profit ahead of forecasts, figures which may feed public disquiet about the AI boom’s draw on resources.

The company’s water usage effectiveness (WUE) ratio climbed to 2.40 litres per kilowatt-hour in the year to June, from 2.25 the prior year, while its ‌power usage effectiveness (PUE) ⁠ratio, ⁠which measures how much electricity a data centre needs for cooling and other overheads, rose to 1.49 from 1.44. Both metrics have worsened for three consecutive years.