Claude Creator Signs On for $32bn Data Centre in Queensland’s West

Crisafulli said the agreement put Queensland at the forefront of locking in data sovereignty.

The Western Downs Digital Park is forecasted to have a power usage volume similar to 1.5 million average Australian households.

First stage operations are expected to begin next year. However, the centre has yet to win council and Foreign Investment Review Board approvals.

Anthropic is a US artificial intelligence company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers. It develops Claude, a family of generative AI models used for writing, coding, analysis and research.

The company has raised billions of dollars from major technology investors and is expanding its global computing infrastructure.

Announced in December, Anthropic competitor OpenAI has landed a deal for a $7-billion data centre campus in Western Sydney through a partnership with Australian operator NextDC.

At roughly 550MW, NEXTDC’s Eastern Creek facility is dwarfed by the scale of Western Downs, where the initial four buildings would deliver 1.44GW of capacity, and planning documents point to a potential six-building expansion that would take the site to 2.16GW.

The Climate Council and Greenpeace are among those to have raised concerns about potential pollution from the proposed data centre, warning its large power demand could increase reliance on coal and gas-fired generation.

Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said the facility could produce an estimated 6.6 million tonnes of climate pollution a year if powered using Queensland’s current electricity emissions factor.

Save Our Darling Downs spokesperson Liza Balmain also raised concerns about the project’s energy consumption and potential reliance on gas-fired generation, as well as increased coal seam gas production and possible impacts on regional aquifers.

▲ Anthropic co-founder and chief executive Dario Amodei was OpenAI's vice president of research.

Earlier this month, The Urban Developer reported that thousands of hectares of grazing land would switch from grain production to data processing under plans by Zerra DC for a major digital campus at Kogan, Queensland.

The Western Downs Digital Park is planned for a 725.5ha site about 250km north west of Brisbane and would become the largest facility of its kind in Australia, according to its proponents.

If each of the four proposed buildings go ahead, the 1.44GW precinct by the Singapore-based data centre developer would dwarf AirTrunk’s 320MW-plus SYD3 campus in Western Sydney, which was billed as the largest Asia-Pacific data-centre campus outside China when announced in 2021.

The plans show that the $31.9-billion data centre would neighbour the Wambo Cattle Company’s 24,000-head feedlot on the site about 37km north-west of Dalby.

Zerra DC, which develops and operates hyperscale data centre campuses across the Asia Pacific, also has plans in the pipeline for a $1.1-billion centre on the former Campbellfield Ford factory site north of Melbourne.

As data centres continue to roll out across regional and rural Australia, their colossal water and energy usage has sparked widespread community concern.

Documents filed by Zerra DC show that during construction the data centre would require about 522 kilolitres of water a day, followed by an initial 26.9 megalitre flush-and-fill of its cooling system. Once complete, the centre is expected to use about 16.5kL of water daily, according to the application.

On its website, Zerra DC says that the Kogan centre will use 100 per cent air-cooled technology, removing the need for water-based evaporative cooling typically used in traditional data centres.

During operations, rainwater harvesting would be the preferred water source, with on-site recycling and an existing dam acting as a supplementary water source.

▲ The site neighbours the coal-fired Kogan Creek Power Station.

Earlier this year, the Western Downs Regional Council received $4.17 million in funding from the Queensland Government to deliver critical water infrastructure for Dalby.

Western Downs mayor Andrew Smith said the funding supported the council’s long-term vision for the region.

“Strong and reliable water infrastructure is fundamental for our communities and for supporting future growth across the Western Downs,” Smith said. 

“It also reflects the council’s commitment to planning for and investing in long-term water security, flood resilience, and community safety as our region continues to grow.” 

Zerra DC said that the Western Downs’ position as one of Australia’s major energy regions meant the region was well-placed to welcome major investment in renewable generation, battery storage and supporting energy infrastructure.