96MW data centre proposed for Lucca Road, Wyong

A 96MW data centre is proposed for Lucca Road, Wyong, on the Central Coast. The NSW Planning Portal lists it as state significant development SSD-148199991 at the “Prepare SEARs” step. For Sydney and NSW developers, it is another sign that data centre demand is moving beyond western Sydney into regional industrial precincts with grid access.

The proposal is not approved. The portal page does not name the applicant or a capital investment value. The Newcastle Herald reports the applicant is DCG Admin and puts the investment at $1.5 billion, citing the scoping report. We have not been able to confirm either detail from a public record.

Why it matters

Data centres are competing with logistics and manufacturing users for serviced industrial land. A project of this size on the Central Coast tests how much power the local network can give a single tenant.

The site is in the North Wyong Industrial and Enterprise Precinct, next to an existing industrial development. The Newcastle Herald reports the scoping report places it less than 1 km from Ausgrid’s 132 kV Wyong Zone Substation.

The scoping report says that location lets the project “connect to existing transmission infrastructure without the need for new transmission corridors”, according to the Herald.

For builders and contractors, a two-storey data centre of this scale would mean large civil, structural and electrical packages if it ever proceeds. Nothing has been tendered, and the record gives no construction timeline. Landowners and agents near the precinct should also watch how the proposal affects demand for large industrial lots.

The numbers

The Planning Portal describes the project as the operation of a data centre with a 96MW load capacity. It comprises one two-storey building, ancillary office space, car parking, landscaping and site works.

The Herald reports further figures from the scoping report. We have not verified these against the document:

• Capital investment of $1.5 billion.
• Total power consumption of about 150MW. The Herald gives 96MW as the target IT load, which matches the 96MW load capacity on the portal.
• A site of 12.43 hectares.
• 85 car parking spaces.
• Operation 24 hours a day.
• A dry, air-cooled design that uses no water for cooling, in line with NSW data centre guidelines.

The scoping report also says the site is flood-affected and subject to existing easements. It argues the project would still make productive use of employment-generating industrial land.

Neither the Planning Portal page nor the Herald article gives a job count. We have not estimated one.

What’s next

The next step is the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements, known as SEARs. These set out what the applicant must study in its environmental impact statement.

After that, the stages on the portal are the EIS, public exhibition, submissions, response to submissions, assessment, recommendation and determination. As a state significant development, it will be decided through the NSW planning system rather than by Central Coast Council, which covers the site.

Flooding, easements and the local power connection are the issues most likely to draw scrutiny. The portal lists no key dates yet, so the timetable is open. Any approval would also depend on the grid operator agreeing to supply a load of this size, which the record does not address.

Our team will update this story when the SEARs are issued or the project page changes.

Readers tracking data centre activity can compare it with the Microsoft Huntingwood data centre, which has been approved. More local coverage is on the Sydney hub.