Data Center Market: DoverDC Files 200MW Melbourne Planning Application

DoverDC Files Planning Application for 200MW Data Center in South Morang, Melbourne 

MELBOURNE, Australia — August 26, 2026 — Australian data center developer DoverDC has filed a formal planning application with the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning for a 200-megawatt (MW) data center facility in South Morang on the northern outskirts of Melbourne, marking the company's second major infrastructure commitment in the precinct and adding further momentum to the expanding Data Center Market across the Asia-Pacific region. 

The application, lodged via subsidiary Dover1 SM2 Pty Ltd, covers a proposed three-story facility designated SM1B at 165 Williamsons Road, South Morang. The building is planned for approximately 1.8 hectares of an 8.7-hectare site situated directly adjacent to the South Morang Terminal Station (SMTS) and South Morang Substation — a strategically significant location given the critical importance of secured, proximate power supply to large-scale data center operations. 

The SM1B application follows DoverDC's earlier SM1A project, a 120MW, three-story facility planned less than one mile south at 525/535 McDonalds and 765 Plenty Roads. The SM1A project secured a planning permit in September 2024, with construction expected to commence in late 2026 or early 2027 and the first operational phase anticipated in 2028–2029. According to analysts at Next Move Strategy Consulting, the global Data Center Market was valued at USD 364.59 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 646.16 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 12.13% over the 2025–2030 forecast period. 

Key Highlights: 

• Scale of Development: The SM1B facility at 165 Williamsons Road is planned as a three-story, 200MW data center on approximately 1.8 hectares of an 8.7-hectare site, representing a substantial addition to Melbourne's data center capacity pipeline. 

• Strategic Power Proximity: The site is located directly adjacent to the South Morang Terminal Station and South Morang Substation, providing critical grid access — a key determinant of site viability for large-scale data center development. 

• Dual-Project Precinct Strategy: DoverDC is pursuing two separate data center projects within less than one mile of each other in South Morang, reflecting a campus-style development approach that aggregates power and infrastructure resources in a single precinct. 

• Regulatory and Community Headwinds: A petition with more than 4,600 signatures has been filed with the Victorian Parliament opposing the nearby SM1A development, while the Victorian Greens introduced — though failed to pass — legislation calling for an immediate moratorium on new data center approvals in the state. 

Analyst Insight: 

According to analysts at Next Move Strategy Consulting, DoverDC's dual-project strategy in South Morang reflects a broader pattern of developers securing power-adjacent land parcels in Australian metropolitan markets ahead of anticipated hyperscale and enterprise demand. The proximity to the South Morang Terminal Station is a deliberate risk-mitigation measure, as grid connection timelines and transmission access remain among the most significant constraints on data center delivery timelines globally. 

NMSC analysts note that the regulatory and community opposition emerging in Victoria is consistent with trends observed across multiple high-growth data center markets, including Northern Virginia, Singapore, and the Netherlands, where rapid capacity expansion has prompted local governments to introduce planning controls. The defeat of the Victorian Greens' moratorium bill indicates that state-level policy currently favors continued development, though the city of Whittlesea's call for a formal regulatory framework signal that structured oversight of data center siting, energy use, and water consumption is likely to become a more prominent feature of the Australian planning landscape in the near term. 

Industry Outlook: 

DoverDC's SM1B planning application arrives at a pivotal moment for Australia's data center sector, where major hyperscalers — including Amazon Web Services, which announced multi-billion-dollar investment plans for Australian infrastructure — are driving sustained demand for large-scale, power-secured facilities. Melbourne's position as a secondary but rapidly maturing data center market, supported by improving interconnection infrastructure and growing enterprise cloud adoption, makes it an increasingly attractive destination for capacity investment. 

The dual-project pipeline in South Morang, totalling up to 320MW of potential capacity across SM1A and SM1B, represents one of the more significant single-precinct data center commitments in the Australian market to date. With the global Data Center Market on a trajectory toward USD 646.16 billion by 2030, developers that secure power-adjacent sites and navigate planning frameworks proactively are positioned to capture durable, long-term occupancy from hyperscale and enterprise tenants as demand for AI-ready, high-density infrastructure continues to intensify across the Asia-Pacific region. 

Source: Data Center Dynamics

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Prepared By: Sanyukta Deb