Failure atlas
Why projects fail
v0.1 seeds patterns, not a global cancellations census. The learning dataset starts with method errors: treating announcements as MW, lines as capacity, brownfields as clean pads, and CopperString as one line to Mount Isa.
- insufficient generationModerate confidence
Pattern: announced GW without a connection offer
Global — illustrated by Weddell
A government-endorsed GW figure with site exclusivity is still an announcement. DataSentinel files it as announced and keeps deliverable MW at zero until generation, pipeline and approvals exist.
- PreliminarySpeculative
Beetaloo Energy has stated plans for up to 2 GW of on-site gas-fired generation and a campus that could attract up to A$40 billion if fully developed. These are proponent and government statements. Independent network capacity is not verified.
Data Center Dynamics · Australian gas firm plots gigawatt-scale gas-powered data center campus · published 2026-07-22 · accessed 2026-09-18
- transmission congestionHigh confidence
Pattern: adjacent transmission treated as spare MW
Australia — illustrated by Lansdown and Liddell
A 330 kV line in the same region, or a retired 2 GW power station, is infrastructure that exists. It is not commercially connectable capacity. This is the method error the product exists to prevent.
- High confidenceExisting
AGL states critical infrastructure such as transmission connections will be retained as the site becomes the Hunter Energy Hub. Retention of assets is not equivalent to spare commercially connectable capacity.
AGL Energy · Liddell future land use and enabling works · published 2026-08-04 · accessed 2026-09-18
- High confidenceCommitted
CopperString Eastern Link is just under 350 km of 330 kV transmission from Reid River near Townsville to Hughenden, with first-stage delivery set for 2032 subject to approvals. Construction-commencement approvals are required by 2028.
Powerlink Queensland · CopperString | Powerlink · published n/a · accessed 2026-09-18
- community oppositionModerate confidence
Pattern: metro demand with community and planning refusal risk
Sydney / Melbourne / Dublin / Amsterdam
Inference wants to be in the metro. Metros are where opposition, noise, diesel and water politics concentrate. Brownfield industrial land does not automatically clear those gates.
No evidence objects attached. Absence is not a low score.
- contaminationHigh confidence
Pattern: industrial brownfield contamination as a silent multi-year gate
Botany / Altona
PFAS, chlorinated hydrocarbons and asbestos are not a footnote on a site card. They are the programme.
- High confidenceExisting
Environmental investigations identified chlorinated hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, PFAS and asbestos in soils at the former Qenos Botany landholding.
Botany Industrial Park · Preparing for remediation works at former Qenos landholdings · published 2025-10-21 · accessed 2026-09-18
- transmission congestionHigh confidence
Pattern: flattening a transmission project into a province-wide MW slogan
Mount Isa / CopperString
Eastern Link Reid River–Hughenden is not a 330 kV feeder to Mount Isa. Western options are a fund. Treating them as one line produces fake deliverable MW.
- High confidenceProposed
The Western Link is not presently a 330 kV line to Mount Isa. A $200 million North West Energy Fund is to support local generation, batteries and microgrids while Western Link options are developed.
Powerlink Queensland · CopperString | Powerlink · published n/a · accessed 2026-09-18