THE CAPACITY PICTURE
Follow the capacity.
National market context, documented sites and the development pipeline.
Australia · DOCUMENTED OPERATING CAPACITY
≈ 1,096 MW
Operating computing power supported by site and operator disclosures.
696.95 MW allocated to named sites + 399.05 MW disclosed at portfolio level.
Sites already included in a portfolio are counted once. Observations retain their own dates; this is not a complete national census.
See every operator, site and source →Australia · published national benchmark
≈ 1.5 GW
National operational capacity
≈ 1,500 MW IT · 31 March 2026
162 centres · Operational data centres in source inventory
Data Centres Australia and DC Byte estimate Australia had about 1.5 GW of operational IT capacity across 162 data centres at 31 March 2026. This provides a national market benchmark alongside the Atlas’s partial site-level evidence.
The national estimate is a separate benchmark. It is not added to the documented capacity above, whose coverage and observation dates differ.
Definition and scope
Operational capacity is the IT load supported by fitted-out halls available for use, not necessarily utilised capacity or live electricity demand. This rounded industry estimate has its own inventory and date. It is not an independently reconciled Atlas facility total and is never added to site subtotals or assigned to map pins.
Data Centres Australia and DC Byte source ↗ · ABC News source ↗ · Compare the measures →
DOCUMENTED CAPACITY · SELECTED SITES
Partial capacity subtotals across the selected sites. Figures cover the selected records. 4 sites have no comparable power disclosure. Built capacity is not utilisation or available supply. Operating capacity & market context → Read the methodology → · Coverage & research gaps → · Wider pipeline & source reconciliation → Portfolio disclosures can exceed the amount allocated to named sites here. See NEXTDC’s reconciliation →
What do these megawatts actually mean?
MW measures electrical power. Here it means power available to servers, GPUs, storage and networking equipment, excluding cooling and other building overheads. The industry calls this “IT power”, short for information technology. It does not tell you how many GPUs are installed, how fast they are, how much power is being used, or how much capacity is available to buy. Planned figures include proposed and approved design envelopes, including expressly labelled ceilings. They are not a delivery forecast. Grid connections, building power and MVA are shown separately in the pipeline evidence.
Location coverage: 16 corroborated site records · 0 directory-reported positions · 10 approximate city records · 0 awaiting a location. Records may share a physical site.
| Certification scope | Core-field coverage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEXTDC A1 Adelaide ↗Adelaide, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | 2 MW | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 88%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC B1 Brisbane ↗Brisbane, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 2.3 MW | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC B2 Brisbane ↗Brisbane, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 6 MW | 2 MW | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC C1 Canberra ↗Canberra, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 2 MW | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC D1 Darwin ↗Darwin, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 75%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC D2 Darwin ↗Darwin, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | 1.5 MW | 4.5 MW | Certification not verified | 75%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC GC1 Gold Coast ↗Gold Coast, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 6 MW | Certification not verified | 63%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC GE1 Geelong ↗Geelong, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | 1 MW | 3 MW | Certification not verified | 75%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC M1 Melbourne ↗Melbourne, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 15 MW | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC M2 Melbourne ↗Melbourne, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 60 MW | 60 MW | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC M3 Melbourne ↗Melbourne, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 60 MW | 165 MW | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC M4 Melbourne ↗Melbourne, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | 10 MW | 140 MW | Certification not verified | 75%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC M5 Melbourne ↗Melbourne, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 1,200 MW | Certification not verified | 63%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC NE1 Newman ↗Newman, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certification not verified | 63%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC P1 Perth ↗Perth, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 5.5 MW | 2 MW | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC P2 Perth ↗Perth, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 6 MW | 4 MW | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC PH1 Port Hedland ↗Port Hedland, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certification not verified | 50%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC S1 Sydney ↗Sydney, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 16 MW | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC S2 Sydney ↗Sydney, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 30 MW | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC S3 Sydney ↗Sydney, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 68 MW | 12 MW | Not disclosed | Certified Strategic enclave | 100%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC S4 Sydney ↗Sydney, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | 250 MW | 115 MW | Certification not verified | 75%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC S5 Sydney ↗Sydney, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 80 MW | Certification not verified | 63%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC S6 Sydney ↗Sydney, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | 2.7 MW | 10.8 MW | Not disclosed | Certification not verified | 88%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC S7 Sydney ↗Sydney, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 550 MW | Certification not verified | 63%Profile reviewed |
| NEXTDC SC1 Sunshine Coast ↗Sunshine Coast, AU · facilityCorroborated site location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Certification not verified | 63%Source-listed profile |
| NEXTDC SC2 Sunshine Coast ↗Sunshine Coast, AU · facilityApproximate city location | NEXTDC | Not disclosed | 1 MW | 5 MW | Certification not verified | 75%Profile reviewed |
BEYOND THE MEGAWATTS
The strategic “so what”.
Better questions for investment, policy and AI adoption.
A planned megawatt is not an operating megawatt.
Separate the development ambition from the infrastructure that is actually available.
Read the research lens ↗DEMAND & AI COMPUTEWhat is driving demand for compute?
Explore demand forecasts, training and inference, disclosed hardware and the commitments behind the pipeline.
Understand the distinction ↗SOVEREIGNTY & ASSURANCECertification has a boundary. Know where it ends.
Understand the difference between a Strategic facility, an enclave and a cloud service.
Explore certification scopes ↗BUILDING A PUBLIC REFERENCE
Help make the picture clearer.
Operate a facility? Have a primary source, commissioning update or correction? We welcome evidence that improves the atlas.