Construction has kicked off at NextDC's D1 data center in Darwin, Australia.
First announced in 2021, work is finally underway on the 8MW data center in Australia's Northern Territory.
Located close to the Charles Darwin University CBD campus, the facility is being constructed by Kapitol Group NT and is expected to create around 200 jobs in the area.
D1 will be a 3,000 sqm (32,290 sq ft) facility and, according to NextDC's website, will be able to house up to 1,000 racks. Based on current timelines, the first phase of the data center should be operational by mid-2024.
The facility will connect to both domestic and subsea cables, including Vocus' Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore cable that went live earlier this year. It is expected that there will be new cables in the next few years that will also connect to D1.
"The Territory Labor Government is focused on delivering and finding quality project, with long-term positive outcomes," said Natasha Fyles, chief minister of Australia's Northern Territory.
"Darwin is located within 50 milliseconds to more than 500 million people and offers a secure and stable location for digital, data, technology, and telecommunication companies to start up, relocate, or expand their operations to service the local, Australian, and Indo-Pacific markets.
"This AU$80 million (US$52m) investment will help diversify and strengthen the Territory economy. Supporting over 200 jobs during construction and 20 jobs when operational, this data center will spur the growth of tech businesses and many government agencies here in the Territory and create digital careers for locals."
NextDC's Craig Scroggie added that the facility will be the first of its kind in Darwin, and will be the company's flagship facility in the Northern Territory.
The company currently operates data centers across Australia, including in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Port Hedland, Canberra, the Sunshine Coast, and Adelaide.
Earlier this year, NextDC obtained an AU$400m (US$279m) debt facility to enable further growth. In May 2023, the company revealed plans to expand internationally with new projects in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Auckland, New Zealand.
