Australia’s Firmus Technologies on Thursday said that it was expanding Project Southgate through a strategic alliance with CDC Data Centers and NVIDIA, by extending its AI factory platform to Mainland Australia and Scaling Total Planned Capacity to 1.6 GW.
Project Southgate will deliver sovereign, world-class AI capability at scale, positioning Australia as a leader in digital innovation, advanced manufacturing and supporting the clean energy transition. The project will drive widespread productivity for the nation, and ensure Australia’s AI future is built on local innovation, renewable energy, and under sovereign control.
Project Southgate heralds the beginning of Australia’s AI factory era, an Australian-built renewable-powered infrastructure network that unlocks national capability in artificial intelligence, while driving progress on clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital sovereignty.
Through this project, the partners will create thousands of direct and indirect advanced manufacturing and construction jobs, whilst supporting the creation of up to multiple gigawatts of net new renewable energy.
Supports Renewable Energy Projects
Every stage of Project Southgate will be powered by renewable power, and in new locations, including Southgate Tasmania, will directly support the development of net new renewable generation.
Through to 2028, Southgate could support the development of up to 5.1GW of new wind, solar, storage and hydro generation projects across Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and the ACT, delivering economic value to the nation while strengthening Australia’s net zero transition.
The project’s network of AI factories across Australia will accelerate the country’s path to net zero by providing long-term demand certainty for new clean energy projects. The flagship Green AI factory campus in Tasmania anchors new digital industry directly to the state’s renewable power grid, supporting the business case for major projects like Marinus Link.
Beyond energy, Southgate is a national catalyst for sovereign capability, creating thousands of skilled jobs in advanced manufacturing, construction, and high-tech operations, while showcasing how homegrown innovation can lead in responsible AI.
Co-Founder and CEO of Firmus Technologies Oliver Curtis said that Project Southgate is a blueprint for how Australia can lead the world in scalable, sovereign AI infrastructure. Firmus was building a new kind of national capability, Australian-designed, powered by renewables, and ready to meet global demand for energy-efficient intelligence, he said.
First Stages Underway
Southgate’s first stages are under construction in Tasmania and Melbourne, with up to 150 MW, representing 54,000 GB300 delivered by mid-2026. The Alliance’s $4.5 billion first-stage investment is to be delivered at Southgate Melbourne.
This AI infrastructure will feature 18,500 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs, which have been ordered and are expected to come online by April 2026, becoming available to enterprise, education, government, start-up and scale-up users across Australia through the Firmus AI Cloud.
DGX Cloud will be among the first in the world to benefit from access to Southgate’s efficient, high-performance infrastructure by establishing a DGX Cloud region at Southgate Melbourne.
In partnership with Firmus, DGX Cloud’s utilisation of sustainable AI infrastructure further advances NVIDIA’s mission to democratise access to more efficient, more sustainable computing. This sustainable AI infrastructure further advances the mission to democratise access to more efficient, more sustainable computing.
Raymond The, Senior Vice President for Asia Pacific at NVIDIA, said that Australia was embarking on a transformative journey powered by sovereign AI infrastructure that can accelerate innovation across its industries. Firmus’s NVIDIA AI infrastructure will support Australia’s leadership in building and deploying efficient, sustainable AI to solve its greatest challenges and shape the next generation of growth.
Southgate’s Key Facts
With an initial investment of $2.93 billion, with scale up to $47.67 billion and 1.6 GW of operational AI Factories through 2028, the project will create up to 20,700 direct jobs through 2028, across construction, advanced manufacturing, operations, and technical roles.
It is also expected to produce up to 5.1 GW of net new renewable power supported, with 100% renewable energy powering all AI factories.
The project is an Australian-designed and manufactured AI factory technology, delivering world-leading energy and water efficiency and it is majority-owned and governed by Australia with strategic protections for national interest.
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