NextDC to build second Sydney data centre to meet growing demand

The company will fund the development of the new data centre with a fully underwritten $150 million capital raising to acquire land, and for other general corporate purposes.

NextDC's current network consists of two data centres in both Melbourne and Brisbane, and one each in Sydney, Perth and Canberra.

NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie says the company also intends to invest between $140 million and $150 million in the development of the new Sydney data centre over two years between 2017 and 2018. Scroggie says $60 million to $100 million is expected to be spent in FY17.

NextDC is undertaking due diligence on several potential sites for the new Sydney facility, with an expected target capacity of approximately 30MW capacity. The facility is expected to be completed in the first half of 2018.

{loadposition peter}And, consistent with its strategy with new facilities in Brisbane and Melbourne, NextDC intends to hold the underlying property at the new Sydney facility once it is developed.

“S1 has proven to be highly successful for the company in a relatively short timeframe. We are confident that the demand in Sydney, together with our return expectations, warrants the next phase of investment,” Scroggie says.

“NextDC continues to evolve and refine the design of our facilities. S1 is already one of Australia’s most awarded data centres, and with a planned 30MW at full fit out, S2 will have roughly double the capacity of S1, and be designed for its critical infrastructure to scale with customer uptake and adapt to their specific needs.”

NextDC also announced on Tuesday that it had signed a new customer contract of approximately 1.5MW for its current Sydney data  centre (S1).

Scroggie said the new contract for the provision of data centre services is with the same customer (unnamed) with which the company announced an initial contract on 11 December 2014, and “exhausts the customer’s rights of first refusal relating to the S1 facility”.