Quantum DC pauses 1.2 GW Tungkillo hub after community opposition

By Grace Kim

Quantum DC has paused planning approvals for its 1.2 GW Tungkillo Compute and Energy Hub in South Australia, DatacenterDynamics reported on Nov. 13. Tungkillo is now the largest of three Australian data center projects to change course after community opposition.

AirTrunk has dropped a 140 MW proposal at Lane Cove West in Sydney. Stockland has removed a planned AI data center from its A$3.5 billion Cooks River redevelopment. Both companies retain other data center projects.

Quantum DC said: "We recognize that some members of the community have concerns about the process to date and want reassurance about the planning and assessment processes being followed." The company admitted it had misread the strength of feeling around the proposal.

It cancelled two community information sessions scheduled for later this month and shifted to a longer-term engagement program. Quantum DC said nothing in the design was fixed and that parts would change if the process showed a need.

What changed at the 1.2 GW Tungkillo hub?

Quantum DC chose Tungkillo for its first project. The proposed hyperscale campus would serve cloud and AI workloads on about 120 hectares of a 220-hectare grazing property.

• Capacity and use: A 1.2 GW hyperscale campus for cloud and AI workloads.
• Site: About 120 hectares within a 220-hectare grazing property.
• Power: On-site gas turbines for backup, two new substations and neighboring battery storage projects.
• Location rationale: Position on South Australia's transmission network and an existing high-pressure gas pipeline.

Last month, Quantum DC cancelled a community drop-in meeting after citing a credible bomb threat. The pause in planning work leaves the proposal without a confirmed approval or construction timetable.

Why did Lane Cove West lose its proposal?

AirTrunk, owned by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, dropped its 140 MW proposal at Apollo Place and Mars Road. The company told local media the site did not suit the facilities its customers need.

Capital Brief reported the decision on Nov. 6. It left none of three early-stage proposals standing in Lane Cove West.

• Goodman Group withdrew its 90 MW Project Mars in September.
• A third proposal linked to an Ausgrid-related entity also came off the table.
• AirTrunk's operating SYD2 campus and its approved Apollo Place expansion remain unaffected.

What remains at Cooks River?

Stockland and joint-venture partner John Boyd Properties removed the planned AI data center from their A$3.5 billion logistics and commercial redevelopment. The 18.3-hectare project on the former Kogarah Golf Club site will proceed without it.

"This is an important victory for people power," said Paddy Gibson, an organizer of the Stop the Cooks River AI Project. The group says it mobilized hundreds of protesters and still opposes the logistics development.

Stockland continues to pursue other data centers. Those plans include two sites in Melbourne and a 168 MW project in Sydney. The company has not said whether the Cooks River data center could return under a different design.

What does the reversal mean for capacity?

The three reversals sit alongside NextDC's decision to keep work on projects without customer contracts paused. DatacenterDynamics also cited local opposition in U.S. midterm exit polls and protests across Europe during the same week.

The immediate commercial test is whether Quantum DC's longer engagement produces a Tungkillo plan the community accepts. AirTrunk and Stockland retain separate projects, but the three abandoned proposals will add no data center capacity unless the companies revive them.

Until revised plans or customer commitments emerge, operators face a redistribution of proposed demand rather than a net increase from these sites.