New data centre enhances Pilbara's tech capabilities

An edge data centre has been established in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, significantly enhancing data processing capabilities for local industries.

NEXTDC, a data centre operator, has teamed up with Vertiv to launch a facility in Port Hedland, aiming to resolve issues of data latency and improve operational efficiency in sectors such as mining and oil and gas.

Previously, data from the Pilbara required a 1,600 km journey to Perth for processing, leading to high latency costs.

The new PH1 Port Hedland facility enables cloud-based services, including AI and machine learning, to be accessed locally, thanks to its proximity to the Vocus telecommunications fibre network. Adam Gardner, Head of Product at NEXTDC, stated, "Before NEXTDC's PH1 Port Hedland facility opened, data generated in the Pilbara often travelled 1,600 kilometres to Perth for processing. The high latency introduced by this extensive route introduced challenges for major resource organisations and other local industries."

He added, "NEXTDC's PH1 empowers the region's businesses and allows them to innovate and optimise like never before. Vertiv's strength in Edge data centre builds—particularly in far-flung locations like Port Hedland—meant they were an ideal partner for NEXTDC's in-house expertise. The Vertiv prefabricated infrastructure solution at PH1 optimised build time and was a great fit to service the region's operational, safety, and productivity needs."

The deployment features a prefabricated modular solution designed by Vertiv, which significantly reduced the logistical challenges associated with constructing in remote areas. This modular approach not only expedited the build time but also ensured that the facility could withstand the harsh environmental conditions of the Pilbara desert.

Mark Hamilton, Project Manager at NEXTDC, highlighted the facility's resilience features, saying, "Standard data centre equipment isn't usually specified for these conditions. Vertiv knew and understood this, and together, we made sure to use condensers appropriately rated at 55 degrees Celsius."

He continued, "Plus, we considered the facility's resilience in the event of a cyclone. So, PH1 Port Hedland has tie-downs to steel fixings, appropriate to withstand high wind pressures, and includes substantive protection around critical equipment to endure a flying tree, should an event occur."

The PH1 facility incorporates advanced systems like refrigerant-based air cooling, a high-efficiency UPS system, and lithium-ion batteries, which cater to high-density power demands and promote future scalability, including the potential introduction of liquid cooling methods.

This initiative is part of a broader development strategy, with a second edge data centre, NE1 Newman, currently under construction in the Pilbara region.

Located 600 km from Port Hedland, the NE1 facility will share similar capabilities.

Hamilton remarked on the broader plan, "This approach perfectly represents the modular and flexible nature of Vertiv's prefabricated solutions: they are ready and able to service autonomous mines and other advanced programs."

Tony Gaunt, Vice President of Asia at Vertiv, commented on the significance of these developments, stating, "NEXTDC is bringing metro-level compute modular data centres, complete with all the security, safety, low-latency, and uptime resilience that you would expect of a large data centre in a major city, to geographically dispersed and previously-isolated locations."

He concluded, "Together, we're making access to the major cloud providers the new status quo for Australia's most prominent and founding industries and allowing local businesses to capitalise on AI technologies with high-speed connectivity."