Goodman secures approval for 135MW Macquarie Park data centre in Sydney

Goodman Property Services has received planning approval to build and operate a 135MW data centre at Macquarie Park in Sydney, marking one of the largest dedicated facilities in the precinct and a significant step in Australia's expanding digital infrastructure landscape. The AUD 1.365 billion project, known as Project Apollo, will be developed at 4-10 Talavera Road on a 23,190-square-metre site, featuring eight data halls distributed across four levels. Designed to operate around the clock, the building will reach a maximum height of 45 metres and will incorporate large-scale evaporative cooling, diesel backup generation and lithium-ion battery systems to support continuous operations.

The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure approved the State Significant Development application on 2 September, following a comprehensive assessment of the project's environmental, infrastructure and amenity impacts. According to the Department's evaluation, the development is expected to generate up to 400 construction jobs and 60 operational jobs once completed, contributing to the local economy and reinforcing Macquarie Park's role as a key technology hub in the Sydney metropolitan area.

One of the most notable aspects of the approval is the project's water-intensive cooling design. The facility will rely on open-circuit evaporative cooling towers, with the assessment permitting up to 1.5 million kilo-litres of water consumption per year under the maximum assessed operating scenario. The Department clarified that this figure represents a worst-case estimate based on the proposed cooling system and operating assumptions, and that actual water use could be lower depending on the eventual tenant mix and cooling configuration. The water requirement comes as NSW begins a separate examination of how data centres should be charged for water services, with the state's Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) releasing draft terms of reference this week for a review of water pricing and regulation for data centres, including how operators should contribute to the cost of connecting to water networks, network upgrades and additional supply capacity. Submissions on the draft terms of reference are open until Friday 2 October 2026, signalling a broader regulatory focus on the resource demands of the sector.

The Apollo assessment indicates that Sydney Water is already examining infrastructure requirements in the local water-supply zone, including potential non-potable water options for data centres. The consent requires Goodman to obtain a Sydney Water Section 73 compliance certificate before the facility can operate, while also mandating measures to reduce potable water consumption and ongoing monitoring and reporting of water use.

The data centre's eight halls will provide space for future tenants to install server racks and networking equipment, with the internal configuration designed to accommodate different tenancy requirements over time. The Department describes the project as having an operational capacity of up to 135MW, with the revised design retaining the same fundamental scale and intensity despite changes made during the planning process. Power will be supplied through a multi-feeder grid connection designed to provide redundancy if a feeder is lost, while the facility will also have diesel generators and an uninterruptible power supply using lithium-ion batteries to maintain the critical load during grid interruptions. The assessment was based on approximately 1,100 tonnes of diesel storage capacity and around 210 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries, although the final consent permits diesel storage of up to 2,000 tonnes and limits non-emergency operation of the backup generators to 187 hours a year, with no more than one generator tested at a time. The consent also prevents the backup generators from being used for load curtailment or to generate electricity for export to the National Electricity Market.

A significant requirement of the approval relates to the project's operational electricity supply. Before operation, Goodman must demonstrate that its electricity demand, including both IT and non-IT loads, is matched by a portfolio of additional, firmed renewable energy supply at all times. The company must also enter into NSW-based power purchase and firming agreements within the National Electricity Market (NEM) and establish a framework for managing periods when renewable supply is unavailable, including through demand flexibility and firming. The consent requires Goodman to begin the process of securing those agreements within six months of construction commencing, underscoring the growing emphasis on sustainability in the data centre sector.

The approval follows a lengthy assessment in which the City of Ryde maintained its objection to the development. Council raised concerns about the building's bulk and scale, landscaping and tree removal, public-domain interface, at-grade parking, security fencing and the cumulative environmental and risk impacts associated with the concentration of data centres in Macquarie Park. The Department nevertheless concluded that the revised design provided acceptable urban-design outcomes and that the project's impacts could be managed through conditions of consent. The assessment notes that the site is at a prominent entry point to the Macquarie Park precinct and that nearby residential receivers are located approximately 100 metres away, beyond the M2 Motorway.

Noise was consequently one of the Department's two principal assessment issues, alongside urban design. The consent requires continuous operational noise monitoring, while the Department said monitoring would help establish whether emissions remain consistent with predicted levels and identify tonal or low-frequency noise, particularly because the ultimate tenants and some rooftop plant arrangements are not yet known. The project's backup generators also presented an air-quality issue, with the EPA raising concerns about cumulative emissions during emergency operation and testing, prompting Goodman to revise its generator testing regime and prepare a site-specific air-quality management plan.

The Department ultimately concluded that the environmental impacts of the development could be appropriately managed through the conditions of consent. The project will now move into delivery, subject to the conditions attached to the approval, positioning Goodman to play a central role in meeting Australia's growing demand for large-scale data centre capacity.