NEXTDC breaks ground on $80m Darwin data centre

Data centre operator NEXTDC has broken ground on what is due to become the company’s flagship data centre in Darwin.

The $80 million, 8 MW D1 Darwin is expected to launch in June 2024 and create more than 200 jobs over the life of the project. The data centre will have 3000 m² of technical space with capacity for 1500 racks, and will target a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.5.

The new facility will seek to support the top end with cutting-edge digital infrastructure capable of allowing customers in the region to take advantage of advanced technologies such as generative AI, automation and robotics.

NEXTDC is partnering with the NT Government on the project as part of the territory’s Digital Territory Action Plan, which aims to unlock new opportunities for the territory’s digital industry.

NEXTDC CEO Craig Scroggie said the data centre will be close to the NT CBD and provide direct access to the major subsea cable infrastructure landing in the territory. “[This] means legacy industries such as mining and resources alongside the emerging defence sector can have real-time responsiveness to operational and mission-critical needs, fully capturing the value of emerging technologies,” he said.

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, who attended the breaking ground ceremony, said D1 Darwin will give many organisations in the region the opportunity to empower and activate their digital transformation strategies.

“Offering uninterrupted critical connectivity and cloud services to Northern Territory businesses and government will significantly boost the capability of what they are offering to their customers and stakeholders,” she said.

Fibre network operator Vocus is also partnering with NEXTDC for the project. Vocus will integrate its Terabit Territory fibre network within the data centre, which will provide connectivity to high-capacity networks in the region, as well as direct access to Southeast Asia via Vocus’s Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore Cable project. The $100 million, 1000 km cable system went live in July.

Vocus CEO Ellie Sweeney said D1 Darwin will play an integral role in Vocus’s network investments.

“D1 Darwin will establish a major data centre in Australia’s north connecting to Vocus’s new Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore Cable (DJSC) submarine system, which lands our secure digital infrastructure in Perth, Port Hedland, Darwin and South-East Asia,” she said.