Macquarie Capital will partner the Singapore-based Zerra DC and the Dexus-controlled Australian Data Centres (ADC) to build what will be Australia’s largest data centre campus in Queensland – which will be valued at around A$30bn (€18.6bn) on completion – for AI developer, Anthropic.
Sources told IPE Real Assets the plan was to build four data centres on more than 720 hectares of land in Western Downs Digital Park in Dalby, northwest of Brisbane.
IPE Real Assets understands that the phased project will take up to six years to complete. On completion, the data centres will have a combined capacity of 2.16GW. The first data centre is due to come online in 2027.
The consortium has entered lease documentation with the Australian subsidiary of Anthropic for the delivery of the first stage of the campus, said Dexus in an ASX announcement. The lease is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval.
The sources said the lease followed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Anthropic signed with the Australian government in April, when Anthropic said it would explore investment in data centre and energy infrastructure in support of the National AI Plan.
These sources stressed that the project would address the growing public pushback on data centre development over their use of energy and water.
“The development will be in line with the government’s expectations for data centre development and is committed to meeting the mandatory national standards for data centre energy, water, and land use, now being developed with the states and territories,” said a source.
The site will connect directly to the high-voltage grid through the existing Braemar substation, with no major new transmission infrastructure required. It will also include an on-site battery-backed power conditioning system to support power quality and grid stability.
“Anthropic will go to market for long-term power purchase agreements with new wind, solar, and storage projects, working to match the site’s electricity use with new renewable supply,” said another source.
IPE Real Assets was told the first data centre was designed to use minimal water in operation. Western Downs will use a closed-loop, air-cooled system that does not use water for evaporative cooling of the servers. As a result, on-site operational water use is broadly comparable with a conventional office building of the same size.
Anthropic and Zerra, which is the developer of the data centre campus, declined to comment.
However, the listed Dexus said its 85%-owned Australian Data Centres (ADC) holds a 25% interest in the consortium. The company said ADC was currently conducting a capital raising to introduce additional capital partners to the project.
Dexus said it might participate in the capital raising as an investor but had not as yet decided to do so. ADC’s future obligations to fund the first stage and further stages of the project were subject to customary approvals, including Dexus board approval.
Macquarie Capital is acting as the financial advisor to the consortium.
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