Construction on the Sunshine Coast’s very first “dedicated AI factory” has kicked off, with new closed-loop cooling technology expected to minimise water consumption.
Large concrete pillars are protruding from a former car park in the heart of the Sunshine Coast as construction kicks off for the region’s “first dedicated AI factory”.
NextDC’s second data centre, named SC2, in the Maroochydore CBD will be situated along South Sea Islander Way on a plot of land which was previously used as a gravel car park.
Sunshine Coast Council labelled the $200m centre the biggest private commercial investment and “first dedicated AI factory” in the region.
The development will be a “state-of-the-art, AI-optimised” facility pushing digital capability for sectors such as aerospace, geospatial intelligence and biomedical research.
The project page by NextDC describes the development as “purpose-built for the AI era” and designed to support Queensland’s growing demand for “AI-ready digital infrastructure”.
NextDC’s first data centre in Maroochydore – SC1 – already uses “high efficiency” water-cooled chillers, rainwater cooling towers and pumps.
NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie said SC2 and its AI infrastructure would require a “more advanced cooling approach” compared to their SC1 centre, which was recognised as one of the most water-efficient facilities in Australia due to its rainwater usage.
The new centre will use closed-loop, liquid direct-to-chip cooling, where the water sits within a sealed system, circulates over chips to remove heat and is then reused.
Any topping up required will use recycled water rather than the region’s potable drinking water supply which traditional centres use, Mr Scroggie said.
He noted the centre’s ongoing water consumption would be minimal thanks to the closed system.
“This is not traditional evaporative cooling,” Mr Scroggie said.
“It’s a sealed, highly efficient system designed specifically for AI infrastructure, and it allows us to deliver high-performance compute while materially reducing water use and improve the sustainability of technology growth.
This is a part of NextDC’s “new generations of AI capable infrastructure” compared to traditional AI data centres using millions of litres in water.
An Environmental and Energy Study Institute article stated a large AI centre consumes up to nearly 19m litres of per day, equivalent to a city of between 10 and 50 thousand people.
The article found a medium-sized centre uses up to 416m litres in a year – or about 1.14m litres per day – which is comparable to the annual water consumption of about 1000 households.
Mr Scroggie said the facility would provide jobs for engineers, technicians and operations staff once running, but also establish opportunities for cloud providers, network operators, cybersecurity firms, software companies and startups.
The site was formerly a car park in the heart of the Maroochydore CBD, and is in proximity to a plot of land expected to become a 1800-apartment development.
This comes as residents in Melbourne living near a NextDC data centre take action against expansion plans which have caused serious concerns.