Asia Pacific & Middle East's hyperscale data center specialist, AirTrunk, has announced the acquisition of a new site in Melbourne's North-west for its second Melbourne campus, designated MEL2. The facility will feature over 354MW capacity and represents more than AUD 5 billion in new direct investment.

Investment and Capacity Details

MEL2 will lift AirTrunk's total deployable capacity in Melbourne to over 630 MW when combined with the existing MEL1 campus. Across both Melbourne facilities, AirTrunk's investment in the city's digital infrastructure will exceed AUD 7 billion, which the company describes as delivering one of the largest economic and productivity boosts to Victoria.

The new campus will complement AirTrunk's existing Australian operations, providing global AI and cloud customers with greater geographical diversity across the Sydney and Melbourne markets. AirTrunk will operate five campuses nationally: SYD1 (121 MW+), SYD2 (158 MW+), SYD3 (330 MW+), MEL1 (276 MW+), and MEL2 (354 MW+), delivering a combined capacity of more than 1.2 GW.

Employment and Economic Impact

MEL2 will create over 4,000 jobs during the multi-phase construction period and over 200 direct jobs once operational. Additionally, AirTrunk will boost the local supply chain, creating more than 1,000 full-time jobs to support its data centers.

Robin Khuda, Founder & CEO of AirTrunk, stated: “Australia has set bold ambitions to become a global AI hub, and demand for AI‑ready infrastructure continues to grow. MEL2 is part of our response. Working closely with Invest Victoria, we're expanding in Melbourne to support Australia's AI future while creating new opportunities for local business and communities.”

Khuda added: “AI data centers require significant upfront investment, and AirTrunk's strong balance sheet and proven regional track record help give global AI customers confidence in reliable, on‑time deployment in Australia.”

Government Support and Strategic Context

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan commented: “Victoria is leading Australia's digital transformation, and investments like this will strengthen our state's position as a hub for cloud and AI innovation, create thousands of jobs, and deliver sustainable infrastructure that supports our growing technology ecosystem.”

The Melbourne expansion follows AirTrunk's announcement last week of a new hyperscale campus in Osaka, Japan, delivering up to 100MW of IT load in Japan and representing a new direct investment of AUD 3 billion+. OSK2 and MEL2 will become AirTrunk's 14th and 15th data centers, respectively, expanding the company's hyperscale platform to deliver a total capacity in excess of 2.6 GW across six markets in Asia Pacific and the Middle East: Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.

National AI Plan Alignment

AirTrunk's Melbourne expansion coincides with Australia's advancement of its National AI Plan, released in late 2025, which outlines the country's ambition to become a global hub for artificial intelligence. The plan is built around three pillars: capturing the opportunity through investment in infrastructure and skills, spreading the benefits across industries and communities, and keeping Australians safe through responsible AI governance.

According to the announcement, by delivering a new hyperscale data center in Melbourne, AirTrunk is directly supporting these national goals, enabling smarter government services, faster business innovation, and stronger human connections, while creating opportunities for local talent and suppliers.

The data center industry generates AUD 12.6 billion in gross value added per terawatt-hour of energy consumed, outperforming sectors such as mining and manufacturing. Data centers consume less than 0.1% of Australia's water, and by 2030, will have invested up to AUD 1.1 billion in recycled water infrastructure. Since 2020, the industry has invested AUD 3.1 billion in grid infrastructure, with total investment expected to reach AUD 7.2 billion by 2030.

AirTrunk pioneered the hyperscale data center model in Australia and in the Asia Pacific region in 2015. The company was the first data center company in the APAC region to deploy large-scale direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology to support high-density AI workloads in its JHB1 campus in Malaysia. According to the announcement, AirTrunk is well-capitalized to triple its planned Australian capacity in the near term.

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