Sydney data centres rest on vague water plans


Resource intensive: A data centre under construction in Western Sydney. The new facility will deliver at least 320MW of computing power. — Reuters

SYDNEY: Authorities in Sydney approved construction of data centres without requiring measurable plans to cut water use, raising concerns the sector’s rapid growth will leave residents competing for the resource.

The New South Wales state government, which presides over Australia’s biggest city, green-lit all 10 data centre applications it has ruled on since expanding its planning powers in 2021, from owners like Microsoft, Amazon and Blackstone’s AirTrunk, documents reviewed by Reuters show.

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