Michael Gunner

Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

Paul Kirby

Minister for Corporate and Digital Development

Media Release

Data Centres Turning Darwin into Digital Hub

29 March 2022

In an exciting step for Darwin’s digital economy, Chief Minister Michael Gunner today announced Australia’s leading data centre service provider, NEXTDC Limited, has announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art data centre in the Territory.

D1 Darwin is an $80M critical infrastructure investment and the first for the Company in the Territory. D1 will be located at 2 Harvey Street in the Darwin CBD.

Construction will begin in October 2022, with the creation of around 200 jobs and up to 25 positions once it is operational in mid-2023.

D1 will house 1500 racks and support up to 8MW IT load. In addition, it will offer uninterrupted critical services to customers to support business, and an innovation centre providing collaborative spaces to support Territory technologies innovators, start-ups and high growth companies.

In order to deliver on the long-term objectives of the Digital Territory strategy, the Northern Territory Government will continue to work closely with NEXTDC to deliver digital capability to the top end well into the future. As such, NEXTDC have secured rights to a second location in the Wishart Estate for a future-planned second data centre (D2) to ensure the Territory is well geared to meet the growing needs of our digital economy.

Australian owned and run, NEXTDC have been designing, building and operating Australia’s largest network of premium cloud enabled data centres for 12 years and is regarded as the leading data centre operator in Australia.

The company was selected as the successful proponent by the Northern Territory Government for the expression of interest (EOI) to develop and operate a commercial data centre in Darwin.

NEXTDC is committed to using local Territory contractors wherever possible for the design, construction and operations of its Darwin data centre network.

The global data centre market is expected to reach $174 billion by 2023, and the Territory Economic Reconstruction’s final report identified data centres as key to positioning the Territory as Australia’s digital gateway to Asia.

NEXTDC will work in partnership with the Northern Territory Government to support its vision to establish the Territory as Northern Australia’s leading digital economy and Australia’s digital gateway to Asia and beyond.

Establishing Darwin as a digital and tech hub is key for the Territory Labor Government’s strategy to create jobs and grow a $40 billion economy by 2030.

Quotes from Chief Minister Michael Gunner:

“This investment will help us diversify and strengthen the Territory economy. Not only will it create jobs for Territory tradies during construction, but the innovation centre will spur the growth of tech businesses here in the Territory, and create digital careers for locals.

“NEXTDC’s investment cements Darwin as Northern Australia’s most advanced digital economy, and this will open the door to new opportunities for future investment in cloud-based computing services and advanced manufacturing.

“We are Australia’s comeback capital, but we also want to be Australia’s destination for all things digital.”

Quotes from Minister for Corporate and Digital Development Paul Kirby:

“Data centres are part of the infrastructure that powers our digital lives and are the backbone of the new global technology environment.

“NEXTDC’s announcement of their plans to build not just one, but two data centres in Darwin, helps cement the Territory’s position as Australia’s digital gateway to Asia.

“The construction of D1 will also have a big impact on the CBD and on local businesses. Not only will it see local tradies on the tools, but nearby coffee shops and eateries will also feel the benefits too.”

Quotes from NEXTDC CEO Craig Scroggie:

“NEXTDC’s commitment to supporting the Northern Territory’s goal of becoming a key destination for digital growth extends beyond our initial D1 development.

“NEXTDC have also secured a first right of refusal over our second Darwin site (D2) that will provide for the long-term development of a hyperscale campus designed to serve the emerging Asia South region connected to Darwin by new international submarine cable networks.”

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