Proposed Queensland data centre could draw a quarter of the state's power use

A proposed hyper-scale data centre in Queensland is under consideration by the Western Downs Regional Council, with developers saying it could become the largest such project proposed in Australia. The Western Downs Digital Park is planned for a 725-hectare site near Dalby, about 250 kilometres west of Brisbane. If approved and built out in full, the project would sit on land that is currently used as a feedlot and cattle paddock.

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The Singapore-based developer Zerra DC says the project would have a peak capacity of 2.16 gigawatts, equivalent to the electricity use of about 1.5 million average Australian households. At the end of a four-phase rollout, it could draw about 47 gigawatt-hours a day. That would represent a rise of about 25% in Queensland's daily electricity use, based on the figures provided with the proposal.

The scale of the application has drawn attention because of its possible effect on the power system. An electro-mechanical engineer quoted in the material described the demand as an "enormous amount of energy", while a university associate professor warned that getting the power supply wrong could affect grid stability and consumer costs. A climate finance and energy specialist also said the increase in demand would need to be matched by new generation investment.

The proposal comes as Australia debates how to meet the electricity needs of artificial intelligence and other data-intensive computing. Data centres are already a major part of digital infrastructure, but projects of this size can require new transmission, generation and planning decisions well beyond the needs of conventional industrial sites. In regional areas such as the Western Downs, where mining, gas and agriculture are key industries, the project also raises questions about land use and the future shape of local development.

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The application was submitted last month, according to the material supplied, and is now before the local council. The project site is in Queensland's coal seam gas country, where energy and resource infrastructure already play a central role in the regional economy. The proposed development has been described as a test case for how large computing facilities might be powered in Australia.

What remains unclear is whether the council will approve the application, and if so, what conditions would be attached to electricity supply, staging and infrastructure upgrades. It is also not yet clear how the project would be connected to the grid or what new generation assets would be required. The next key step will be the council's assessment of the development application and any further detail released by the developer.

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