Amazon Invests $13 Billion in Australia’s Data Center Infrastructure

In a big boost to Australia’s data centre sector, Amazon has announced plans to invest around $13 billion from 2025 to 2029 to expand, operate, and maintain its data center infrastructure down under.

The country’s largest publicly-announced global technology investment will support the strong growth in customer demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), accelerating AI adoption and capability, and the continued modernization of Australian organizations of all sizes.

The planned investment supports the Australian government’s vision to improve productivity and grow the economy through AI innovation. It puts the latest cloud and AI capabilities into the hands of hundreds of thousands of Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers and partners to drive innovation at scale, while ensuring local data residency and regulatory requirements are met. According to the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources, AI and automation are expected to contribute up to $388.98 billion annually to Australia’s GDP by 2030.

AWS’s commitment to Australia began in 2012 with the opening of the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region. In 2023, AWS launched the AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) Region and the country’s first AWS Local Zones in Perth.

In April 2024, AWS launched Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s fully managed generative AI service, in the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region, and in July 2024, the Australian Government announced a partnership with AWS to provide a “Top Secret” AWS Cloud to deliver cloud innovation in national security and defence, and enhance the nation’s defence and intelligence capabilities.

To support the expanded local cloud infrastructure, Amazon is investing in three new solar farms in Victoria and Queensland. European Energy will deliver and operate the new projects, with Amazon committing to purchase a combined capacity of more than 170 MWs across the three solar farms. Amazon has already invested in eight solar and wind projects across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, which are helping power Amazon’s Australian operations, including Amazon data centers and fulfilment centers.

Once all 11 renewable energy projects are operational, they are estimated to generate more than 1.4 million MWh of carbon-free energy annually, or enough to power about 290,000 Australian homes each year.

From 2020 to 2022, Amazon invested an estimated $302.76 million in renewable energy projects in Australia. In 2024, Amazon was the third-largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in Australia, and remains the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally.

Largest Investment

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the investment by AWS, which will be spread over five years, will expand its data centers in Sydney and Melbourne.

This is the largest investment Australia has seen from a global technology provider, and is an exciting opportunity for the country to build AI capability using secure, resilient infrastructure, he said.

“This is exactly the kind of economic investment in our nation that we want to see, and creates opportunities for continued innovation and growth. The investment will generate economic opportunity for Australians, including skilled jobs and infrastructure that can support complex AI and supercomputing applications,” he added.

Garman said that this planned investment deepens their long-term commitment to supporting the development of Australian organisations of all sizes and helping them harness the enormous opportunity that generative AI offers.

“We are proud to be expanding our world-class data center infrastructure, bringing more renewable energy projects online, and supporting the country’s vision to be a global AI leader. AI is a once-in-a-generation transformation, and Amazon is pleased to be empowering all Australians to innovate at scale through this investment,” he added.