The Northern Territory's working data centers are small, but the government says a dozen investors want to build bigger ones. NEXTDC opened D1 Darwin in 2024 and has topped out D2 Darwin, which will add 6 megawatts of power. In mid-2026, Business Minister Robyn Cahill said the government was in talks with 12 investors about proposed data centers, calling the Territory "Australia's digital gateway to Asia" because of its subsea cable links to Southeast Asia.
Two large projects are public. Perth-based Energy North has proposed Project Ares, a 1-gigawatt, off-grid campus on Murranji Station in the Barkly Region, powered by gas and solar and drawing up to 4 gigaliters of water a year, more than greater Darwin uses in a month. In July, the government gave Beetaloo Digital exclusive rights over land at Weddell, 30 kilometers south of Darwin, for a possible 2-gigawatt, gas-powered data center that would use more than six times the region's current peak power demand. "We believe in the next three to four years we could see this project move into production," said managing director Alex Underwood.
Opponents want a pause. "There is zero community consent for these projects," said Pauline Cass of the Environment Centre NT, which along with Greenpeace has called for a moratorium. Neither project has approval or financing, and Beetaloo Energy has not said how it would get its water.
Projects not tied to an area
Sites whose records name no county. Everything else is on the pages listed above.
Northern Territory2
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEXTDC D2 Darwin | NEXTDC | Under construction | 6 MW | |
| NEXTDC D1 Darwin | NEXTDC | Not reported |
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