Quantum DC's 1,200MW Tungkillo data centre meets dark sky pushback

Mid Murray Council mayor Simone Bailey has raised concerns about the location of Quantum DC’s proposed 1,200 megawatt data centre at Tungkillo, about 55 kilometres east of Adelaide. The Melbourne company is running two community drop in sessions before lodging any development application. ABC News reported the proposal on 27 October 2026, naming it the Tungkillo Compute and Energy Hub and placing it on a 220 hectare site near the River Murray Dark Sky Reserve, an internationally accredited zone protected from light pollution.

The state government confirmed it has not received a development application for the site. A government spokesperson said any proponent would need to demonstrate how it would manage energy, water and cooling before formal assessment could begin. Quantum DC chief executive Alby Tomassi said the company wanted to understand the community’s concerns ahead of lodging anything formally, which is why the drop in sessions are running first.

Why it matters

For contractors and energy infrastructure builders working the Riverland and Adelaide Hills corridor, Tungkillo is an early test of how a hyperscale load this size is received before any application is filed. Quantum DC running community sessions ahead of a development application signals the company expects the dark sky reserve’s international accreditation to be a live planning issue once anything is lodged.

A 220 hectare, 1,200 megawatt facility would be among the largest single industrial proposals the Mid Murray region has faced, and projects of that scale typically draw scrutiny on power draw and water use well beyond the immediate neighbours. Mayor Bailey said: “I have concerns, particularly about the location.” Resident Magdalene Lippett, who lives near the proposed site, said she was also worried about noise from the facility reaching nearby homes and animals, and about the loss of dark sky conditions she values.

Mayor Bailey’s stated concern about siting, rather than opposition to data centre development outright, suggests local debate will turn on location against the reserve’s light pollution protections. South Australia is not the only state weighing a hyperscale proposal against a protected or contested site: in Tasmania, a Rowella data centre proposal from Firmus has drawn its own planning appeal over siting concerns.

The numbers

As reported, Quantum DC’s proposal covers 220 hectares and a proposed 1,200 megawatts of capacity, a scale the company has not yet attached a dollar figure or square metre building footprint to in any public document. The site sits roughly 55 kilometres from the Adelaide CBD, inside the catchment of the River Murray Dark Sky Reserve. No timeline for lodging a development application has been reported.

What’s next

Quantum DC’s two community drop in sessions are the only scheduled step before any development application is lodged, and no date for either the sessions or a lodgement has been reported. The assessing body has not been confirmed, and the state government has said any proponent must show how it would manage energy, water and cooling before assessment proceeds. Until a development application is lodged, the Tungkillo Compute and Energy Hub remains a proposal, not a project with a decided outcome.