Microsoft permitted to build $1.26b Sydney data centre
The Labor government has approved a controversial $1.263 billion data centre for Microsoft, in Sydney.
The 96-megawatt facility earmarked for 6 Honeman Close, Huntingwood (artist’s impression, top), will rise five-storeys with 39,297 square metres containing 40 halls.
Total power demand of 140MBA is anticipated.
It will operate around the clock.
Another data centre approved
The Huntingwood development will include 46 diesel backup generators, lithium-ion battery systems and diesel storage.
The approved scheme allows for up to 158,763 kilos of lithium-ion batteries and 1.532 million litres of diesel storage.
The approval caps total site power consumption at 140MW and generator capacity at 133.4MW.
Backup generators, other than during unplanned outages, will be limited to 187 hours a year, while only one generator can be tested at a time.
The site is within the Western Sydney Employment Area and the project is expected to generate up to 250 full-time-equivalent construction jobs and 74 operational jobs, according to the NSW assessment.
The approval followed objections from Blacktown City Council, principally over the project’s impact on a conservation area, as well as concerns about its bulk, scale, visual presentation and landscaping (continues below).
Council withdrew its objection following changes to the design and proposed biodiversity and other mitigation measures.
The project will remove about 0.33ha of native vegetation, including 0.31ha of critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland.
The existing conservation area will be reduced from about 1.11ha to 0.78ha.
Microsoft will be required to purchase and retire 11 ecosystem credits and 24 species credits, or pay the equivalent amount into the Biodiversity Conservation Fund, before clearing or construction can begin.
The remaining 0.78ha conservation area must be protected in perpetuity.
The group is separately seeking federal approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act for the SYD01 Huntingwood facility, with the federal assessment examining potential impacts on nationally protected threatened species and ecological communities.
Public consultation on the preliminary documentation closed on September 18.
The project forms part of Microsoft’s broader Australian data-centre investment.
The company announced in 2025 that it would invest $25 billion in Australian digital infrastructure, including expanding its Australian cloud and AI capacity by more than 140 per cent by the end of 2029.
Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
