$3.7b data centre proposed for former Kurri Kurri aluminium site
The application names a Hunter planning consultancy as applicant, not a developer, and would convert an approved industrial building into a 550.5 MW data hall.
A $3.7 billion data centre proposed for part of the former Hydro Aluminium smelter site near Kurri Kurri, in the Cessnock City local government area, went on public exhibition as a state significant development on 14 October 2026, the NSW Planning Portal shows, with submissions closing 11 November 2026. Urban Digest first reported the application. The application, SSD-128819490, names ADW Johnson Pty Ltd as applicant, a Hunter region planning consultancy, and does not identify a developer or end user for the project.
Urban Digest’s report and the planning portal snapshot it published disagree on the site address. The outlet’s article text locates the project on Hart Road, Loxford, on part of the former Hydro Aluminium land, while the portal snapshot it cited lists the address as 145 Bishops Bridge Road, Sawyers Gully. Both describe the same former smelter site near Kurri Kurri, but the two addresses do not match and this report prints both rather than choosing one.
Why it matters
A data centre of this scale, if it proceeds as exhibited, would add 550.5 MW of data centre load to the Hunter region. For Hunter builders and electrical contractors, the application points to about 1,210 peak construction personnel over a 14 month build, and the window to lodge a submission is open now. Converting an already approved industrial building rather than proposing a new structure narrows one part of the assessment, since the building envelope and earthworks already cleared a complying development certificate separately from this state significant development application.
The application is on exhibition, not approved, and no determination has been made. The planning portal lists exhibition from 14 October to 11 November 2026 and gives no determination date. Cessnock City Council is not the consent authority for a state significant development of this kind; the determination rests with the state planning pathway following exhibition.
The numbers
The two sources diverge slightly on capital investment, with Urban Digest’s article text putting the figure at $3.7 billion and the portal snapshot it cited at $3.71 billion. Gross floor area is given consistently at 47,143 square metres, comprising about 32,297 square metres of data halls, 1,481 square metres of office space and 13,365 square metres of corridors and support areas.
The proposal would convert an already approved two storey industrial building, with a maximum height of 17.84 metres, into the data centre. Urban Digest reported a rated capacity of 550.5 megawatts, a dual 132 kilovolt connection to the Ausgrid network, and continuous 24 hour, seven day operation once built, supported by 312 air cooled chillers, lithium ion battery storage and six backup diesel generators across an electrical switchyard and two substations. The application states about 1,210 peak construction personnel over a 14 month build program, and about 254 ongoing full time positions once operating.
What’s next
Submissions close on 11 November 2026, according to the planning portal. No determination timeline or construction start date is on the record, and none is stated here. The outcome depends on the state’s assessment of the exhibited application, not on either of the capital investment figures already in dispute between Urban Digest’s article text and its own cited portal snapshot.
It follows NEXTDC’s proposed Horsley Park data centre expansion, also on exhibition in Sydney’s west, where Urban Digest reported capital investment variously as $1.79 billion or $3.50 billion within the same story.