25th August 2026 (Sydney) Delta Electronics, a global leader in power management and smart green solutions, brought together industry leaders and technology experts at its annual Delta Connect technology summit in Sydney in July to explore Australia’s growing opportunity to become a major AI infrastructure hub in the Asia Pacific region.
As AI adoption accelerates, the discussions highlighted a critical challenge: capturing this opportunity will require more than expanding data centre capacity. Australia will need smarter, more resilient and flexible energy infrastructure, supported by closer collaboration across industry, government and the wider community.
Strengthening our grid so Australia can take the lead in APAC
AI-driven technology and its growing demands were a central focus of discussions at this year’s Delta Connect. Many of the emerging technologies showcased at the 2025 summit are now firmly established, highlighting the pace of transformation and the urgency for Australia to seize the opportunities ahead.
A key focus of this year’s summit was Australia’s opportunity to establish itself as the region’s ‘AI anchor’. Speakers and attendees agreed that the nation’s stable energy grid, expanding renewable energy capacity, and strong commitment from government and hyperscale data centre operators position Australia as a leading destination for AI infrastructure investment across Asia Pacific.
However, a spot survey of Delta Connect attendees highlighted growing concerns about Australia’s energy grid, with around 80 per cent of the 180 attendees identifying grid supply as a significant risk to the country’s future growth.
Still, just as data centre projects are experiencing unprecedented growth, energy providers will have to evolve to meet this increased demand. Optimal Group’s Co-Founder, Kane Ravenscroft, illustrated how Australia’s energy sector is adapting to the demands of AI with the transitioning of previous heavy market investment in gas for combined heat and power (CHP), to battery energy storage systems (BESS) backed by renewable energy to provide back-up energy and load smoothing for the grid.
Energy Storage to Tackle Grid Challenges
The role of BESS technology cannot be understated, with Mr Ravenscroft also stating that energy storage had moved “from periphery to a key component” within energy ecosystems as investment in the field continues to grow. As part of the Australian Government’s Capacity Investment Scheme, large battery-based infrastructure projects will power around 3.7 million Australian households in the coming years, delivering an estimated $343 million in benefits for local communities and Australian industry.
A panel discussion between AirTrunk’s Associate Vice President, Michael Rosenberg, Zerra’s Global Chief Technology Officer, Ben Bourdreau, and Delta’s BESS Solution Sales Lead, Wilhelm van Butselaar, also supported the market’s investment shift towards BESS, but acknowledged energy was only part of a myriad of challenges facing hyper-scale data centre builds, with technical, social and regulatory hurdles also posing a risk to Australia becoming an AI anchor in the region.
One of the key challenges facing data centre operators today is balancing site construction timelines, which typically span around two years, with the much shorter refresh cycles for IT hardware and equipment, often as little as one year. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are increasingly being viewed as a solution to this challenge, enabling operators to expand rack capacity and density more rapidly while helping to manage load fluctuations and reduce pressure on the grid throughout a facility’s lifecycle. With data centres projected to account for 6% of Australia’s electricity demand by 2030, BESS is emerging as a critical technology for supporting the rapid growth of AI workloads and their associated energy requirements.
Taking An Ecosystem Approach
Australia’s opportunity to emerge as a region AI anchor will be impacted by factors within the broader AI ecosystem.
In her presentation at Delta Connect 2026, KPMG Futures Director of Foresight and Strategy, Petah Marian, highlighted that Australia’s energy grid pressures were being exacerbated by the rise of AI coinciding with the retirement of legacy energy generators and the once-in-a-generation switch to electric for many primary industries, goods and services.
However, Ms. Marian stressed that in order for Australia take its place as a leading AI hub these technological pressures impacting the ecosystem had to be resolved in unison, not in isolation. As Ms. Marian described, physical systems like energy, data centres, energy transmission and critical minerals (i.e. mining and processing) need to be developed together; otherwise Australia will “simply import everyone else’s intelligence”.
Australia’s ability to move up the value chain from exporter to processor should also be treated as a priority, according to Ms. Marian. While 49 per cent of the world’s hard rock lithium, critical for the production of batteries, is supplied by Australia, 80 per cent of the global lithium-ion battery cells are made in China – leaving Australia open to increased supply chain risks. According to KPMG Futures, Australia could net some $140 billion in new trade by 2040 if the nation manages to capture a modest share of global processing.
Many Delta Connect panellists agreed there is everything to gain if Australia’s tech industry is able to overcome its growing pains. KMPG flagged a potential A$115 billion in annual economic gains to Australia by 2030 through “productivity, output quality, new businesses and jobs” off the back of the data centre boom.
Another aspect of Australia’s AI and data centre ecosystem that needs a clear focus from industry is how physical AI structures exist, operate and are accepted within the community.
The emergence of smart cities, where interconnected technologies support a range of civic services and infrastructure, requires a strong and sustainable energy grid. At the same time, data centres need to be located closer to metropolitan areas to maintain performance, reduce latency and support critical AI applications across increasingly connected cities.
Smart city technology can improve quality of life and deliver tangible community benefits, helping technology providers earn social licence. Data centre developers need to adopt the same approach to build greater acceptance and integration within urban communities.
Across all Delta Connect 2026 sessions, experts agree: strengthening Australia’s grid and supply chain will support the nation’s ambition to be one of the world’s great AI success stories, but this can only be achieved by unilateral cooperation between industry, government, regulators and the community to provide solutions across the entire ecosystem, not merely its energy supply.
Collaborating for a shared future
The annual Delta Connect technology summit serves as a platform for business leaders, technology experts and policymakers to exchange ideas on the opportunities and challenges transforming Australia's economy.
Delta Connect will return in 2027 to provide industry experts and thought leaders the opportunity to share ideas, collaborate and discuss the challenges and opportunities of the time.
To view a wrap-up of Delta Connect 2026, please visit here.