Moved by Councillor Miller, seconded by Councillor Worling –
It is resolved that:
(A) Council note that:
(i)
data centres
facilitate the secure storage and transmission of vast amounts of data on which
much of modern life now depends, including banking, travel, entertainment,
communications, and secure digital operations
for government and defence clients
handling classified and sensitive
encrypted data;
(ii)
recently,
at the C40 World Mayor’s Summit, Mayors from 10 cities including Athens, Paris, Milan, Johannesburg, Melbourne, and Sydney
signed an agreement to address
the environmental impact of data centres;
(iii)
already
there are 9 major data centre facilities either operational, under
construction, or in the advanced
planning stages within the City of Sydney Local Government Area. Currently there are no mandated
requirements for data centres to:
(a) use recycled water; or
(b) use renewable energy;
(iv)
according to the Knight Frank Data Centre Report,
direct investment in physical
data centre infrastructure in Australia totalled $AU10 billion in 2024/25;
(v)
data centres
of 100-megawatt power consumption, like the Equinix
centre in Alexandria, consume
power equivalent to that of at least 150,000 homes;
(vi)
the Australian Market Energy Regulator
predicts that data centres in Sydney will consume 11% of grid-supplied
electricity by 2030;
(vii)
the
Sydney Morning Herald reported that Labor’s federal cabinet is looking to apply
pressure to tech firms including Amazon and Microsoft to tie local investment
in data centres with corresponding investment in renewables;
(viii)
Sydney Water projects that data centre
usage will account
for 20% of Sydney’s
drinking water by 2030;
(ix)
the
City’s Net Zero planning controls do not apply to data centres, so instead they have to work to a “best
practice” voluntary NABERS rating;
(x)
the
City of Sydney successfully adopted its "All-Electric" planning
controls this year. The City’s strictest sustainability rules apply
specifically to offices, hotels, and shopping centres. Data centres, classified
as "High Technology Industry", are
subject to a more
generalised set of rules under the Sydney Development Control Plan (DCP) 2012;
(xi)
outlined in the City of Sydney’s
recently adopted Environmental Strategy 2025-2030 is
the ambition to:
(a) reduce
residential potable (drinking) water use to 204 litres per person per day by 2030;
(a) reduce non-residential
potable (drinking) water use by 10% for each square metre based on a 2019
baseline; and
(a) reduce emissions by 70% (from 2006 levels)
across our entire
area by 2030; and reach Net Zero
emissions across our entire area by 2035;
(B)
Council further
note that:
(i)
the City of Sydney has the authority to assess data centres as local
development;
(ii)
the approval
of new digital infrastructure and data centres
within the City of Sydney
requires that:
(a) they be located
with Zones E3 and E4 of Employment Zones; and
(b) with R1/R2 (Residential) or E1 (Local
Centre/Village) Zones excluded
due to excessive noise posed to residents from facilities that run 24/7;
(iii)
the City of Sydney’s
Design Excellence process
enables increased floorspace and benefits to developers as
well as the community; and
(iv)
the
Southern Enterprise Area has a potential rooftop solar area of ~1,500,000sqm
(or 150 hectares), according to modelling from the Australian Photovoltaic
Institute, capable of meeting significant amounts of the Local Government
Area's local electricity demand.
This could be harnessed and used to power the data centres and other industrial buildings
within the Southern Employment Lands by using rooftop solar and batteries on
site, in a local renewable energy zone;
(C)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
work
with data centre operators, the NSW Government and Sydney Water to identify best practice landscape design, architecture and engineering models
for data centre design that ensures water and energy efficiency,
demand/loading flexibility and to minimise the use of drinking
water, harness renewable energy, and enhance visual
impact and amenity;
(ii)
investigate the potential for developer contributions to fund water
and energy sustainability
programs for the wider City of Sydney area, particularly for the sites of data
centres to recycle water and install solar power on-site;
(iii)
consider
how existing mechanisms such as design excellence, planning agreements, and
increased financial contributions might be used to deliver co-benefits, such as the ability to locally power
the Southern Enterprise Area with solar power
from the vast available rooftop space in the area, via on-site batteries; and
(iv)
report back to Council.
Carried unanimously.
X113761