Australia’s largest datacentre operator has been forced to delay the controversial expansion of its M3 site in Melbourne’s west amid a pause in construction of new 22m power poles following community protest.
On Wednesday, NextDC told the Australian Stock Exchange that delays to electricity provider Jemena’s upgrade of the power poles – essential to delivering the increased electricity required by the expanded West Footscray site – would mean the expansion would be pushed back to the 2027/2028 financial year.
The company’s share price dropped from over $9 per share down to $5.69 per share after exiting the trading halt on Wednesday. Due to the deferred billing and delivery of contracted capacity in M3, the company had reduced its net revenue guidance to between $475m and $500m from between $615m and $640m.
NextDC told the market Jemena had suspended the works due to safety concerns, lack of access to sites arising from community and stakeholder opposition, and due to the local council not approving the building of the 22m power poles – up from 11m today, according to Jemena – while further community consultations take place.
NextDC and Jemena are looking at other options for supplying the increased electricity needs, including alternate locations for poles through industrial zones or connecting via underground power connections.
The expansion of the NextDC site is intended to take it from offering capacity of 60 megawatts today to 225MW, processing power which NextDC has already sold to customers.
The site has faced strong opposition from locals in West Footscray. Guardian Australia reported in May that residents were concerned about the scale of the expansion, the construction noise, and the potential for diesel generators being used in the event of power outages.
The total planned expansion is expected to double the size of the M3 site to 10 hectares when complete. NextDC said construction of the new data halls would continue despite the delay in grid supply from Jemena, but said the Victorian government’s planning decision on a permit for stages six and seven of the construction were taking longer than expected.
NextDC chief executive, Craig Scroggie, told investors in a call on Wednesday that he expects the earliest approval for the expansion would be February 2027, as the Victorian government is about to enter caretaker mode for the 28 November state election.
The application has been with the state government since February 2026, and Scroggie blamed the change of premier from Jacinta Allen to Ben Carroll and the associated cabinet reshuffle for delaying approvals.
Scroggie said it was “disappointing to be facing this particular technical challenge” for M3, but he was confident it could be approved.
“We comply with all of the development requirements under the planning rules. And obviously acknowledging the community concerns more recently, on datacentres, generally, more community consultation is required about… the ongoing operation, development and construction issues on the site.”
West Footscray resident and Citizens of Tottenham member Sean Brown said the community had not set out to reduce shareholder value in raising concerns about the project.
“Our goal was to get a fair outcome for our community and to make sure that proper safety framework is in place – and we still haven’t got those,” he said.
“We’re not stopping. This is continuing until we get a fair outcome for the residents.”
Brown said “whoever forms government” and becomes planning minister after the state election “will be definitely hearing from us”.
“It will be a pretty toxic thing to sign off on.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
