Firmus Technologies has been the talk of the town after it was forced on Friday to pull the pin on its highly anticipated debut on the Australian Securities Exchange due to lacklustre demand.
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it → force → demand
At the start of the year, not many people knew about the company quietly building an AI data centre in Launceston, in northern Tasmania.
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company → know → Tasmania
Fast forward to June, Tasmania's energy minister, after questions in parliament, revealed Firmus wanted to build two more AI data centres in Tasmania.
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Firmus → reveal → Tasmania
A firestorm of anti-AI data centre sentiment erupts in the community and suddenly every Tasmanian has something to say about Firmus.
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Tasmanian → erupt → Firmus
The company hits hitch after hitch as it races to get its three Tasmanian projects up and running to cash in on the AI boom.
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projects → hit → boom
Come September and Firmus is a sponsor of not one, but three sporting bodies in Tasmania — the fabled Tasmania Devils AFL club, the JackJumpers and Jewels basketball teams, and Cricket Tasmania.
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Firmus → come → Tasmania
Many see it as an attempt to build a social licence.
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Many → see → licence
Despite these efforts, EMRS polling conducted in September found the majority of Tasmanians aren't keen on AI data centres setting up shop in the state.
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centres → conduct → state
Women and younger people are leading the push against them.
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Women → lead → them
Regardless of these sentiments, AI data centres are needed to power tools like ChatGPT and Claude which Australians are increasingly taking up.
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Australians → need → which
Firmus claims its facilities can produce AI tokens much cheaper than its competitors, and its innovative cooling technology means they won't use much water.
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they → claim → water
But Firmus hasn't established much of a track record yet.
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Firmus → establish → record
It only has one operational AI data centre in Australia, which is in Melbourne.
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which → have → Melbourne
The company wants 444 megawatts to power its three Tasmanian facilities, which would make it the state's biggest power user.
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it → want → facilities
We don't yet know where all that power will come from.
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power → know → where
It seems investors, like Tasmanian communities, aren't yet convinced by what Firmus is selling.
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Firmus → seem → what
What was meant to be the biggest initial public offering since Telstra — aiming to raise $7 billion to fund its AI data centre rollout — has been cancelled, with the company saying it will look to raise funds privately instead.
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it → mean → funds
Tasmanian projects keep running into trouble
When neighbouring communities found out about Firmus's Bell Bay project, they were furious at what they saw as a lack of community consultation.
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they → run → consultation
Firmus responded to the backlash by hosting community drop-in sessions and fronting the media to address questions, but trust was already low.
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trust → respond → questions
The local council, George Town, ended up approving the data centre — it didn't see how it could say no under the planning laws.
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it → end → laws
It was a win for Firmus, but the company still appealed.
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company → appeal → Firmus
It wasn't happy with a condition imposed by the council that would limit its use of backup diesel generators to during power failures, emergencies, maintenance and testing.
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that → impose → failures
That caught the Environment Protection Authority by surprise.
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That → catch → surprise
It's made a submission to the appeal saying it had understood the generators would only be used very infrequently, and had it known otherwise, it would have assessed the application differently
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it → make → application
Firmus's other new Tasmanian proposal, at Wesley Vale in the north-west, has faced even bigger hurdles.
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proposal → face → hurdles
The company accidentally revealed it wanted to use farmers' irrigation water to cool the facility — something state-owned Tasmanian Irrigation said it wasn't legally able to do.
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it → reveal → something
While Firmus only wanted a small amount of water, farmers were annoyed the company didn't talk to them about it.
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company → want → it
In the end, Firmus said it would just use rainwater and water it trucks in.
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it → say → rainwater
The local council, Latrobe, decided it didn't want to determine the project's fate.
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it → decide → fate
It says the planning laws aren't up to scratch to make a decision on projects of this scale.
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laws → say → scale
Instead, it would rather the state government assess it as a major project, where broader questions, such as Firmus' monumental energy needs for the three projects, can be considered.
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questions → assess → projects
The project attracted more attention last month when Latrobe Council said Firmus may have started development work at Wesley Vale without approval.
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Firmus → attract → approval
Firmus says it was simply doing site maintenance permitted under its forest practices plan.
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it → say → plan
Nonetheless, it's agreed to pause work while the council investigates — a process that remains ongoing.
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that → agree → work
Firmus's most progressed Tasmanian facility in Launceston is also tracking behind schedule.
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facility → track → schedule
It was initially slated to be operational in the first half of this year, but that's been delayed to early 2027.
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that → slat → 2027
A government document states Aboriginal relics were found at the site, and construction was paused while Firmus sought approval to relocate them.
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Firmus → state → them
Amidst last week's chaos with the initial public offering, Firmus pulled out of its scheduled Thursday appearance at a federal parliament AI inquiry taking place in Melbourne.
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Firmus → pull → Melbourne
A detail in Firmus's submission to the inquiry raised eyebrows.
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detail → raise → eyebrows
The company has publicised its commitment to underwrite double the amount of renewable energy that it uses, and has implied that would be in Tasmania.
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that → publicise → Tasmania
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
