THE ACT Government has offered ActewAGL the direct sale of a block of land in Hume for the development of a $1 billion "data city" and gas-fired power station.
The 21 hectare site opposite Mugga Lane Tip and 600m west of the Monaro Highway has been earmarked for the Canberra Technology Group's proposal.
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said Canberra was an ideal location for the development with the national capital "a world leader in the field of information technology".
Canberra Technology City is a partnership between ActewAGL, British-based data company Galileo Connect, and data center owner and developer Technical Real Estate.
As well as the data hubs, the consortium would build a gas-powered generator, capable of trebling the data center industry standard for power output.
Excess power would go into the energy grid and the generator, combined with a bigger capacity gas pipeline, would help Canberra through peak periods.
If it goes ahead it will be one of the most significant infrastructure projects undertaken in Canberra.
ActewAGL chief executive John Mackay said the group was "delighted" the Government had offered it the direct sale option of the land for the next 12 months.
The group was in the middle of a financial and market assessment which would determine if the proposal was viable.
A decision would be reached by early next year, and if all went well construction of the facility could begin in early 2009.
So far the proposal had generated interest within Australia and abroad.
The proposal for the data center campus had been driven by a dramatic shift in demand for such facilities over the past two years.
Mackay said the proposal would also give back to the community with about 600 jobs expected to be created and the gas-fired power station would give Canberra a much more reliable and environmentally friendly supply of electricity. The data center would also generate a large amount of economic investment in the territory.