The new site, known as MEL2, will be located in Melbourne’s north-west and deliver more than 354MW of capacity. Once completed, it will lift AirTrunk’s total deployable capacity in Melbourne to over 630MW across two campuses and push its total planned investment in Victoria beyond A$7 billion.

MEL2 represents more than A$5 billion in new direct investment and will be developed in multiple phases. During construction, the project is expected to create more than 4,000 jobs, alongside more than 200 direct roles once the campus becomes operational. AirTrunk also expects the development to support over 1,000 full-time jobs across the local supply chain.

The expansion strengthens AirTrunk’s Australian platform, which now spans five campuses across Sydney and Melbourne. Combined, these sites deliver more than 1.2GW of capacity, supporting global cloud and AI providers that require large-scale, high-density infrastructure with geographic diversity.

AirTrunk founder and chief executive Robin Khuda said the Melbourne expansion reflects growing demand for AI-ready infrastructure as Australia pursues ambitions to become a global AI hub. He added that the company’s balance sheet and delivery track record provide customers with confidence in the timely deployment of large-scale capacity.

The announcement follows AirTrunk’s recent move into Japan, where it unveiled plans for a new hyperscale campus in Osaka. Together, the Osaka and Melbourne developments will become the company’s 14th and 15th data centres, expanding its global platform to more than 2.6GW across six markets in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

AirTrunk’s Melbourne investment aligns with Australia’s National AI Plan, released in late 2025, which places infrastructure at the centre of efforts to drive AI adoption across the economy. Data centres are increasingly seen as a strategic enabler of this growth, supporting everything from public services to enterprise innovation.

More broadly, the project highlights continued momentum in Australia’s data centre sector, which is attracting large-scale capital as demand for cloud and AI workloads accelerates.

For global operators and investors alike, Melbourne’s growing hyperscale ecosystem is becoming an increasingly important part of the regional digital infrastructure landscape.

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