A data center could be coming to a former aluminum smelter in New South Wales, Australia.. In a SEARS application with the New South Wales government, plans have been filed to develop a 540MW data center on Hart Road in Loxford, located on the former Hydro Aluminium Kurri Kurri Smelter site in the Hunter Region of New South Wales.. – ADW Johnson.
The applicant is listed as project management firm ADW Johnson Pty Ltd. The intended end user is unclear.. The site totals 21 hectares.
According to filed documents, ADW aims to build a large two-story facility on the site, as well as two substations connecting to the existing 132 kV AusGrid transmission line.. Loxford, located within the City of Cessnock Local Government Area, is approximately 167 kilometers north of Sydney and 37 kilometers from Newcastle.
The site is adjacent to the Kurri Kurri Power Station.. Opened around 1969 by Alcan Australia, the Kurri Kurri smelter ceased production in 2012 and was closed by Norsk Hydro in 2014. Remediation works have been substantially completed, and today the site is largely vacant..
In 2020, the smelter site was sold to Stevens Group and McCloy Group, which planned to develop the site into a new 2,000-hectare suburb called Loxford Waters with 2,000 new homes with added industrial estates and a business park.. Snowy Hydro’s 660MW Kurri Kurri natural gas power station launched last year..
“The proposed Kurri Kurri Data Centre represents a significant and strategically justified reinvestment in a comprehensively remediated former heavy industrial site,” the application states.. “It directly supports the economic diversification and regeneration of the Hunter Region, delivers critical digital infrastructure, and will generate meaningful employment during both construction and operation.”.
More in Construction & Site Selection. 28 Apr 2026. More in Australasia.
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