Goodman’s application was for an A$1.2 billion (US$841.9 million) 90MW facility, which it called Project Mars.
According to Reuters, the data centre’s site was planned for a suburb in Sydney and would have been around 20 metres from homes. Its proximity prompted strong protests from local residents.
At a Senate enquiry into data centres earlier in September, Goodman admitted that the project had failed to acquire a “social licence”, as a lawmaker accused the company of demonstrating resentment for the protesting residents.
Explaining the withdrawal, Goodman sent a letter to the state’s planning department explaining that the “policy and regulatory environment for large-scale data centre development has evolved significantly.”
Goodman’s letter said that the company had taken feedback, including from locals, on board along with the changes to policy and regulations. This final decision was to back out of its development application.
Data centre projects worldwide continue to be examined for their environmental impact, energy and water consumption, and quality of life impact on locals. Projects are scrutinised for raising power bills and creating noise pollution.
Delaying and cancelling projects is causing financial impact across the world. Countries are working to push for – or actively implement – regulations on development. These regulations often seek to minimise the environmental and human impact of the data centres.
In Scotland, data centres now need to provide an environmental assessment, while Denmark’s grid operator has paused new large-scale connection agreements after it received requests totalling around 60GW.
The pushback against Goodman’s data centre is an example of how local communities can put pressure on developers to reconsider, relocate, or cancel projects. This resistance in combination with evolving regulations means that the powers behind projects will likely need to be mindful about their location choices in the future.
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