Data Center Atlas
AirTrunk Kurri Kurri Data Centre
Announced
Australia · 1 project · Last reported
Summary
AirTrunk proposes a 540 MW data center on the former Hydro Aluminium smelter site on Hart Road, Loxford, near Kurri Kurri in the Hunter region of New South Wales. It is being assessed as state significant development; the NSW planning department issued assessment requirements by July 2026 and AirTrunk said it lodged an environmental impact statement in September 2026. Plans show a two-storey building of about 44,220 square metres with air-based cooling and a 132 kV grid connection with a new substation. Coverage puts the investment at about A$3.7 billion, and AirTrunk told local press it targets opening in 2028.
Source record as of 2026-09-21 · Details and sources
NSW placed the Kurri Kurri Data Centre application (SSD-128819490) on public exhibition from 14 October to 11 November 2026. It covers the former Hydro Aluminium site on Hart Road, Loxford. The proposal is to fit out and operate an approved industrial building as a data centre with a total power consumption of 550.5 MW, with generators, battery storage, a switchyard and two substations. The application has not been determined. evidence
NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure · published 2026-10-14
Location
The interactive map needs JavaScript. Display anchor: -32.81670, 151.48330 (Point locator, WGS 84).
View location: OpenStreetMap · Google Maps · Bing aerial · Copernicus Browser
Town or locality reference only; the facility position is not established.
Projects (1)
AirTrunk Kurri Kurri Data Centre
Announced last observed as of · Project announcement
This record reports proposed as of 2026-09-21. NSW Planning Portal; W.Media
Location: Loxford (Kurri Kurri), City of Cessnock, New South Wales, AU. Sources name the former Kurri Kurri smelter site on Hart Road, Loxford, without coordinates; the point is the Kurri Kurri town coordinate from its Wikipedia article, so it marks the neighbouring town rather than the site. AirTrunk; NSW Planning Portal; W.Media; Newcastle Weekly; Wikipedia
Use: Cloud, Ai unspecified
Capacity, investment and other figures
| Measure | Value | Scope | As of | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power capacity | 540 MW | Planned · Campus · Facility | 2026-07-15 | The NSW planning portal describes 540 MW as total power consumption of the data center. | NSW Planning Portal; W.Media; Newcastle Weekly |
| Investment | about 3,700,000,000 AUD | Reported · Campus | 2026-09-21 | Figure reported by W.Media; AirTrunk's project page gives only community infrastructure commitments. | W.Media |
| Floor area | about 44,220 sq_m | Planned · Campus | 2026-09-21 | Two-storey building about 16.8 m high; Newcastle Weekly describes this as gross floor area. | AirTrunk; W.Media; Newcastle Weekly |
| Jobs permanent | more than 350 count | Planned · Campus | 2026-09-21 | AirTrunk's figure of ongoing local jobs, about 250 on site and more than 100 off site. The July 2026 scoping report coverage gave 250 ongoing jobs. | AirTrunk; W.Media |
| Jobs construction | about 500 count | Planned · Campus | 2026-07-15 | Figure from coverage of the scoping report; AirTrunk later spoke of several thousand construction jobs. | Newcastle Weekly |
Companies and organizations
| Name | Role | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| AirTrunk | Developer | Proponent. Newcastle Weekly's July 2026 coverage of the scoping report named planning consultancy ADW Johnson as lodging it, without naming the developer. | AirTrunk; W.Media; Newcastle Herald |
| McCloy Group | Owner | The Newcastle Herald reports the site is on land owned by the McCloy Group. | Newcastle Herald |
| NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure | Government | Assessing the project as state significant development; issued the assessment requirements. | NSW Planning Portal; Newcastle Weekly |
Timeline
| Date | Event | Actual or planned | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | Other | Actual | Scoping report lodged and the planning department issued the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements, as reported by mid-July 2026. | Newcastle Weekly |
| 2026-09 | Other | Actual | AirTrunk said it lodged the environmental impact statement; the portal still showed the Prepare EIS stage and public exhibition had not started. | W.Media |
| 2028 | First operational | Planned | Opening year given in Newcastle Herald reporting on AirTrunk's energy plans; Newcastle Weekly reported that construction would take about 14 months. | Newcastle Weekly; Newcastle Herald |
Power supply
| Type | Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Grid | Connection to a 132 kV line, with AirTrunk funding the connection and a new on-site substation. | AirTrunk; W.Media |
| Other | Renewable supply under negotiation with three suppliers in the Hunter Renewable Energy Zone, with about 70 to 75 percent clean energy expected at opening and 90 to 100 percent targeted by 2030; AirTrunk was also in talks with Snowy Hydro about firmed capacity from the nearby gas-fired Kurri peaking plant. | Newcastle Herald |
Not approved: the project awaits public exhibition and determination. A Newcastle Herald opinion column speculated about a possible tenant; no end user has been confirmed, so none is recorded. Wikipedia is cited only for the town coordinate.
Sources for these details
- Kurri Kurri Data Centre — AirTrunk; publication date not stated
- Kurri Kurri Data Centre (SSD-128819490) — NSW Planning Portal; publication date not stated
- AirTrunk proposes AUD 3.7bn NSW data centre with AUD 37m community offer — W.Media; 2026-09-21
- 540MW AI data centre planned for Kurri Kurri — Newcastle Weekly; 2026-07-15
- Kurri data centre energy whale needs its own power supply — Newcastle Herald; 2026-08-13
- Kurri Kurri — Wikipedia; publication date not stated
- Companies
- Developer: AirTrunk (unknown scope) evidence
- Developer: AirTrunk (unknown scope) evidence
- Developer: AirTrunk (unknown scope) evidence
- Owner: McCloy Group (unknown scope) evidence
- Government: NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (unknown scope) evidence
- Government: NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (unknown scope) evidence
Source and location review
- Status source
- NSW exhibition notice: Kurri Kurri Data Centre (SSD-128819490) evidence row
NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure · published 2026-10-14 · Government record - Locator
- Locality reference only · Compiled location reference · locality evidence
- Source checks
Not reviewed against imagery not_
reviewed
No imagery review is recorded for this project. Its status rests only on the dated authoritative source. · no independent imagery verificationStatus age at review: 13 days before the data update on 2026-10-27
Location details
- Coordinates
- -32.81670, 151.48330
- Geometry licence
- source-terms-not-recorded
- Use scope
- Locality reference only
- Scope class
- locality
- Authority
- Compiled location reference
- Source entity
- Project
- Method
- imported_reference_point
- Derivation
- imported_reference_point
- Precision scope
- Sources name the former Kurri Kurri smelter site on Hart Road, Loxford, without coordinates; the point is the Kurri Kurri town coordinate from its Wikipedia article, so it marks the neighbouring town rather than the site.
- Horizontal uncertainty
Not reported
The source record provides no measured horizontal uncertainty; original coordinate precision and note are preserved.
- Geometry evidence
- 7745e0a7
A locator places the site on the map. It is not a building footprint, a construction extent or a surveyed boundary unless the use scope is an official boundary, and even then it is a parcel or permit boundary.
Evidence
Sources are linked, not redistributed; each keeps its own terms. An archived copy is a lookup for the Wayback Machine capture nearest the retrieval date and may be unavailable or differ from what was reviewed. Each hash states what it covers; imported factual records are not publisher-page captures.
| Title | Publisher | Roles | Published | Retrieved | Licence | Attribution | Content hash (SHA-256) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 540MW AI data centre planned for Kurri Kurri Archived copy | Newcastle Weekly News | Imported: Geometry, Imported: Record, Metric: Floor Area, Metric: Jobs Construction, Metric: Power Capacity, Milestone: First Operational, Milestone: Other, Role: Government | source-terms-not-recorded | Newcastle Weekly | 0f66f997db462c6723194e6a7461d2669b79d12d564190f9e6c382bd7001b7f6Factual source record; not the publisher page | ||
| AirTrunk proposes AUD 3.7bn NSW data centre with AUD 37m community offer Archived copy | W.Media Trade publication | Imported: Geometry, Imported: Record, Imported: Status, Metric: Floor Area, Metric: Investment, Metric: Jobs Permanent, Metric: Power Capacity, Milestone: Other, Power Source: Grid, Role: Developer | source-terms-not-recorded | W.Media | 5d01f214ba0eee1048156eed72e231a8e828a038bc75e1ea52536a848853cf02Factual source record; not the publisher page | ||
| Kurri data centre energy whale needs its own power supply Archived copy | Newcastle Herald News | Imported: Record, Milestone: First Operational, Power Source: Other, Role: Developer, Owner claim | source-terms-not-recorded | Newcastle Herald | ef8b974ea973094cebca38bab7b0940535a103ddc1f2c318f2756dce0ff39346Factual source record; not the publisher page | ||
| Kurri Kurri Archived copy | Wikipedia Other | Imported: Geometry, Imported: Record | not stated | source-terms-not-recorded | Wikipedia | d9cccc0436ce8bc3e0be1c9f22417655a165e16169a4bfc31ceac3652d704a91Factual source record; not the publisher page | |
| Kurri Kurri Data Centre Archived copy | AirTrunk Company disclosure | Imported: Geometry, Imported: Record, Metric: Floor Area, Metric: Jobs Permanent, Power Source: Grid, Role: Developer | not stated | source-terms-not-recorded | AirTrunk | a38497c9a4b53c838ee5bd76b328a28610abe12950cd649ab487eba6dd296125Factual source record; not the publisher page | |
| Kurri Kurri Data Centre (SSD-128819490) Archived copy | NSW Planning Portal Government record | Imported: Geometry, Imported: Record, Imported: Status, Metric: Power Capacity, Role: Government | not stated | source-terms-not-recorded | NSW Planning Portal | 3b717ac3ef8957eb1e3e3ac53f85cece11ff31988264b11c66984ee8ba0ce877Factual source record; not the publisher page | |
| NSW exhibition notice: Kurri Kurri Data Centre (SSD-128819490) Archived copy | NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Government record | Project announcement | CC-BY-4.0 | © State of New South Wales and Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure 2026 | 0a91b994d34807432b19ccc6f2905c5f0b4dfca04e2c4eee501902c4c5e0b3dfRetained source material; see source provenance |
Cite this site
Kyars, K. (2026). AirTrunk Kurri Kurri Data Centre [site vcc-site-63d7eb757cdf71a1ae84]. In Data Center Atlas (2026-10-27) [Data set]. https://kiankyars.github.io/datacenter-atlas/sites/vcc-site-63d7eb757cdf71a1ae84/
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