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Please click here for the PDF fact sheet
The Benefits
Location and Site Selection
Noise
Plumes and Air Emissions
Safety
Energy and Water Supply
Horse Yards and Trails
Community Consultation
The Second Site
Further Information
The Benefits
The ICT community
This is not just another data facility. This world-first data centre campus will address the secure computer location and computer operational needs of local, regional, and national businesses requiring a comprehensive, long-term data solution that can be extended and upgraded with no down-time. This development will provide many benefits for Canberra’s IT based economy and deliver important power infrastructure to support businesses and the community as well as government in the ACT.
The local economy
A development of this size and type brings many benefits to Canberra by attracting high-value data centre tenants such as National companies and their skilled IT workforces. This development will account for a significant increase to the ACT’s Gross State Product (GSP). It will attract skilled workers to Canberra and open up more opportunities to diversify our workforce during construction and operation. It is envisaged that the investment will flow through to the local community, local businesses, tourism and housing.
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Location and site selection
Location
The Canberra Technology City (CTC) would be located on block 1671, Tuggeranong District, which is on the southern side of Mugga Lane, approximately 800m west of the Monaro Highway intersection and opposite to the Mugga Landfill.
The proposed development is not actually in a suburb, it is in the district of Tuggeranong. Early in the planning process there was some confusion about the status of the site with proponents calling the area Hume because it was understood the area near the tip next to the Hume industrial area was also to be referred to as Hume.
Why this particular site?
The selection of this particular site is the result of strong analysis, investigation and independent assessments. Under the Territory Plan, the site is classified as ‘Broadacre’ and is suitable for a variety of purposes including communications facilities and major utility installations. The site does not need to be rezoned. Further, the site is of sufficient size to accommodate the important onsite co-generation power facility and to allow for the staged development of the unique modular design data centres that can be developed to meet demand.
Why Canberra?
Serving as a regional hub for large global companies operating within the Asia-Pacific region, Canberra is the ideal location for this world-first data centre campus. Canberra is home to an advanced fibre-optic cable network with access to major telecommunications trunks and connectivity to the world’s major telecommunications carriers.
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Noise
The gas-fired generators are 990m from the nearest residence, not 600m. Strict noise pollution standards will be met, limiting noise to targets required of developments in residential areas. The expected noise levels at the nearest residential property boundary are predicted to be 34dB – equivalent to a rural area or library. Noise at the actual boundary of the site will be brought under the acceptable night time noise criteria for broadacre zoning through amelioration methods such as putting up barriers. Independent Acoustic Analysis of the site (including the co-generation facility and communications facility) confirm that the noise levels at the various receivers along the top of Jackie Howe Crescent and Bracker Place remain under the designated criteria for residents of Macarthur and Fadden.
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Plumes and Air Emissions
Emissions from the co-generation facility will be minimal and will satisfy strict emission targets for this site as per the regulations. Natural gas will be the fuel used for power generation and is considerably cleaner than traditional coal used across all of Australia. The use of new co-generation power equipment achieves significant improvements in the efficiency of fuel use and reductions in emissions. Hot exhaust from the power plant will be used to produce chilled water which will then be pumped to the data centres to assist the computer cooling process. The electricity produced from the onsite co-generation facility will be used to replace electricity that would ordinarily be produced by highly polluting coal-fired generators.
The stacks are 35 metres in the designs that have been submitted to ACTPLA. Independent plume assessment has taken into account the surrounding topography.
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Safety
The co-generation facility is safe and clean. Natural gas has a good safety record. In Australia, strict regulations ensure that the standard of gas safety continues to be high. Natural gas will be delivered to the co-generation facility directly from the pipeline. ActewAGL maintains the highest standards for its infrastructure. The facility includes many safety elements including ventilation, detectors, alarms, 24-hour remote monitoring, automatic shut-down and fire suppression systems.
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Energy and Water Supply
The data centre campus and co-generation facility is designed to be energy efficient. The onsite co-generation facility will provide energy needs to the data centre and eliminates the energy losses associated with the transmission and distribution of electricity over the grid. Surplus energy generated by the co-generation facility may be sold back to the electricity grid. Exhaust produced by the co-generation facility will be used to cool the data centres through absorption chilling technology. The data centre design will take advantage of Canberra’s cool climate providing free air cooling which delivers additional electrical efficiency of up to 10 percent for the data centre. Advanced liquid carbon dioxide cooling equipment will be used in the data centres to further reduce power consumption for cooling purposes by 30 percent. Energy efficient lighting will be used and rainwater will be harvested and used for landscape and gardens.
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Horse Yards and Trails
The needs of horse owners and riders in the community have been addressed in the planning of the CTC campus. New horse yards and water troughs will be built and horse trails redirected. The site boundary has been moved to provide a horse trail along the front of Mugga Lane and at the southern end of the campus giving access to paddocks adjacent to the facility and connections to existing trails.
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Community Consultation
The CTC consortium welcomes community interest in the CTC development as part of the assessment process and is keen to provide the community with the facts about the CTC facility. The CTC consortium will hold a briefing session on Saturday 17 May from 10.00am to 3.00pm at the Town Centre Sports Club (Vikings Club), Corner Rowland Rees Crescent and Athlon Drive, Greenway.
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The second site
The CTC consortium did originally propose two sites for the CTC: Tuggeranong and Belconnen. The Development Application for the Tuggeranong Campus and onsite co-generation facility is being progressed first as it will service the initial customer demand. The Belconnen Campus remains part of the Canberra Technology City plan and would provide secondary production services in support of national and international demand.
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Further Information
You can search this website for more information about the CTC. You can also go to the ACT Planning and Land Authority for information about the Development Application and the consultation period. To view the plans or make a comment go to:
http://apps.actpla.act.gov.au/plandev/e-registers/pubnote/pubnoteMaster_new.asp
You can also post submissions to GPO Box 1908 CANBERRA ACT 2601. Please visit the CTC website www.canberratechnologycity.com.au if you need any further facts.
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