The developers of a proposed data centre at Kurri may use the neighbouring gas peaker plant to bridge the gap between clean energy and fossil fuels.
AirTrunk's data centres in Sydney and Melbourne currently use 86 per cent renewables.
The company is in negotiations with three potential clean energy suppliers in the Hunter Renewable Energy Zone to supply the 540 megawatt Kurri data centre.
It is likely the project will use between 70 to 75 per cent clean energy when it opens in 2028, with the aim of ramping up to 90 to 100 per cent by 2030.
"We know we can get that (70-75 per cent) now," AirTrunk head of energy Sabooh Whitelaw said.
"What we are starting to see is some interesting structured products from developers as we ask questions about 100 per cent renewables. They are thinking about how they use solar, BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) and wind to supply that.
"We are hoping there is a project that gives us maximum renewables that gets us to 100 per cent renewables faster."
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Ms Whitelaw said the company was in talks with Snowy Hydro about potentially using the Kurri peaking plant to supply firmed capacity in the short term.
"We are thinking it could be helpful, if not not for us but for the community, if there is a shortfall in generation," she said.
"Renewables will take a little bit to come on. We can then pay for the gas peaker to come on to take the pressure off (the grid).
"If it helps, we're absolutely happy to use that (the peaker) as a firming product."
The $1.3 billion plant is designed to run only for a minority of the time, providing essential on-demand energy to help keep the lights on when electricity demand is high. It will operate using gas as its primary fuel, with diesel as a backup.
The data centre is proposed to be built on land owned by the McCloy Group.
McCloy Group chairman Paul Broad said the project represented a quantum leap in short and long-term employment opportunities in the region.
"This has been 15 years in the planning," Mr Broad said.
"We are excited about the opportunities that these projects will give young people in the region."
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen described data centres as "whales" in relation to the quantity of energy they consume.
"They just eat electricity, it is very electricity intensive," he told ABC Radio this week.
"One ChatGPT search uses 10 times more electricity than a Google search because it's doing it- they can be very useful and very good but they're doing it at your request so it's a whole different process to just how the internet currently works."
In one case, a data centre that has been proposed for Western Sydney will consume more electricity than Tomago Aluminium Smelter, which is currently the state's biggest energy user.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) says data centres currently use about two per cent of the energy produced in Australia. By 2030 that figure will increase to six per cent (the equivalent of every house in Victoria) and by 2050 it could be 10 per cent.
As a result the federal government has required data centres to generate their own power.
"Otherwise they'll just plug into the grid and be competing for the same power that you and I are using and, in effect, putting prices up," Mr Bowen said.
