Quantum DC's 1,200MW Adelaide Hills AI data centre draws rally

Hundreds gathered in Mannum on Saturday against Quantum DC's plan for a 1,200-megawatt hyperscale AI data centre on 120 hectares at Collins Road in Tungkillo, about 41 kilometres east of the Adelaide CBD, the ABC reported. No formal development application has been lodged.

"We're not going away," local organiser Magdalene Lippett told the crowd. "We don't want the data centre, we will fight it using every legal means possible." Residents cited land use, water supply, noise and light pollution.

Quantum DC chief executive Alby Tomassi said about 80 per cent of the project's electricity would come from two on-site substations connecting to existing ElectraNet power lines via solar and wind contracts, backed by an on-site gas-fired power station, with captured and recirculated rainwater used in place of River Murray or groundwater draws. "We respect the community's views, and that is why our engagement is taking place before anything is lodged, so that we hear and consider those views first," he said. First-stage commencement is targeted for 2028.

Opposition crossed the chamber. Liberal upper house leader Nicola Centofanti told the rally, "We're not against data centres but at the end of the day you've got to take community sentiment into consideration." Greens leader Robert Simms called for a moratorium on any new data centres and for them to be included in the state's royal commission. One Nation MLC Carlos Quaremba also attended; government members did not.

Quantum DC has rescheduled community consultations to November 20 and 21, citing safety concerns. The Tungkillo pushback lands the same week a bipartisan coalition in Arizona rejected further AI data-centre buildout, part of a widening pattern of local resistance to hyperscale AI power loads in developed markets.