A large-scale data center campus is being proposed in Queensland, Australia.

Zerra DC has outlined plans for the Western Downs Digital Park, a master-planned digital, energy, and computing hub hundreds of kilometers outside Brisbane in regional Queensland.

Recently filed with the Western Downs Regional Council, the project involves the planned delivery of up to four phases of AI-ready data centers. Located on a 725.5-hectare plot 37km north-west of Dalby, roughly 250 kilometers north-west of Brisbane, the project could total more than AU$31 billion (US$22.19bn) at full build-out.

The campus is planned on land at 1933 Dalby–Kogan Road, “in proximity” to the Braemar substation and the nearby Darling Downs Gas Power Station, the Darling Downs Solar Farm, the Braemar 2 Gas Power Station, the Alinta Energy Braemar Power Station, and the Daandine CGPF.

Phase I of the campus will include the first data center (known as 1A and offering 36,000 sqm (387,500 sq ft) of data center floor space), an on-site battery-backed power conditioning system, a 540MVA substation, and supporting infrastructure. Buildings 1B, 2A, and 2B will also each total 36,000 sqm.

The dedicated project page says the site’s data centers will “utilize 100 percent air-cooled technology, removing the need for water-based evaporative cooling.”

The site is currently occupied by a 24,000-head cattle feedlot owned by the Wambo Cattle Company.

Zerra DC is a developer and operator of hyperscale data center campuses across Australia and Asia-Pacific. Owned by investment firm AGP, Zerra DC has data center developments planned across India, Japan, and Australia. The company was previously known as AGP DC.

Founded in 2018, AGP has also invested in a data center in Mumbai, India, alongside Digital Edge. The company says it has 920MW of secured capacity across the US, India, Japan, and Australia.

Zerra previously secured $127 million in funding from Tata Capital for the development of another data center in Navi Mumbai, India. The firm is also eyeing a former automotive plant site in Melbourne, Australia, for a potential data center development.

Australian industry body, the Queensland Renewable Energy Council (QREC), said the Western Downs campus proposals demonstrate how the region’s diverse energy mix and strong agricultural base are “strengthening its appeal to major new energy-intensive industries.”

“The Western Downs has long been one of Queensland’s great energy-producing and agricultural regions, with established coal and gas industries sitting alongside grain, cotton, feedlots and other agricultural production,” said Katie-Anne Mulder, CEO, QREC.