ResetData, FlexSysAI, CSIRO & UQ launch AI data centre grid flexibility

Transforming data centres from static loads into dynamic, grid aware asset

Australian energy technology company FlexSysAI today launched a pilot with ResetData, Australia's national science agency CSIRO and The University of Queensland to use its platform to make data centre demand more flexible by shifting GPU-based AI workloads across locations and time without impacting service, easing pressure on the grid at times of high demand.

The FlexSysAI platform is now live at ResetData’s AI-F1, Australia’s first publicly available sovereign AI Factory, where it is managing the power and workloads of an NVIDIA H200 GPU cluster. CSIRO and The University of Queensland will independently analyse the data from the pilot to better understand the role flexible AI workloads could play in supporting electricity system reliability.

Making AI infrastructure more responsive to grid conditions

As demand for AI infrastructure grows, access to electricity and grid capacity is becoming a significant consideration for new data centre developments.

The pilot uses FlexSysAI to categorise AI workloads into distinct “Flex Tiers,” ensuring that critical tasks are protected while elastic training jobs provide reliable load-shifting.

At scale, this could help data centres connect sooner, reduce energy costs, use more renewable power and support the grid, while operators retain control over workload movements. The pilot comes as governments consider how to manage the growing energy demands of AI infrastructure.

This pilot comes as governments worldwide look to regulate data centre energy use and manage growing demand for AI infrastructure demand pipelines.

Marcel Zalloua, co-CEO of ResetData, said:

“It's great to be working with FlexSysAI, CSIRO and The University of Queensland on this pilot. As Australia's sovereign AI infrastructure provider, we want to enable Australian innovation by providing the infrastructure to test and prove new ideas that can have a meaningful impact across the industry.”

Victor Feoktistov, Co-founder of FlexSysAI said:

“Early testing has been extremely promising, showing our platform can rapidly respond to electricity market signals and shift AI workloads to when and where power is more readily available. This reduces strain on the energy system, lowers operator's energy costs and unlocks additional capacity in existing infrastructure, meaning quicker connections to the grid.”

Dr Sean Lawrence, CSIRO Energy Systems Research Scientist, said:

“Data centres are forecast to become some of the largest single points of electricity demand, and unlocking demand flexibility could help support the grid during periods of stress. This pilot will provide valuable real-world evidence about whether flexible AI workloads can help support electricity system reliability as Australia's future energy system evolves.”

Professor Frederik Geth, UQ-Springfield Chair in Energy, said:

“Our role at UQ is to take the operational data this pilot generates and use it to examine how data centre flexibility could be represented in future network planning and regulatory frameworks. That's a gap that's been missing from the conversation around AI data centre growth, and it's the piece of the puzzle that determines whether this kind of flexibility actually gets recognised and rewarded in how networks are planned.”