Site comparison
Liddell vs Lansdown vs Weddell vs Boodarie
Trade-offs, not a ranking. Change the columns. Scenario megawatts remain scenarios.
No composite score. Columns are trade-offs. Scenario MW is not a grid offer.
| Dimension | Liddell / Muswellbrook — Hunter Energy Hub | Townsville / Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct | Darwin / Weddell industrial area | Port Hedland / Boodarie Strategic Industrial Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potential campus MW (5-year scenario) | 100–500 MW | 50–250 MW | 0–500 MW | 50–250 MW |
| Power today | 0 MW | 0–50 MW | 0–7 MW | 1–2 MW |
| Power confidence | unverified | unverified | unverified | unverified |
| Time to power (likely) | 2032 | 2035 | 2035 | Not dated |
| Land | AGL publishes a 10,000 ha combined Bayswater and Liddell landholding. That is not the developable pad for a campus. | 2,200 ha precinct. Individual compute-suitable lots are not allocated. Lot configuration changes with tender outcomes. | 185 ha exclusivity at Weddell, ~30 km south of Darwin CBD, adjacent to a proposed Darwin Energy Hub. Exclusivity ≠ development consent. | 4,000 ha Strategic Industry. POSCO and Fortescue have allocations for iron processing. Do not treat the SIA as vacant. |
| Fibre | Not verified to the pad. | Not verified to the precinct. Single-corridor risk to Brisbane is the default assumption until two routes are shown. | A second international path (Bosun / Inligo) is planned, not a substitute for diverse laterals to Weddell. | Horizon is described as a second route. Site diversity to a Boodarie lot is not surveyed. |
| Water | Lake Liddell remains a key water asset for Bayswater. Surplus for a campus is not verified. | Raw water pipeline from Ross Dam is in design — proposed, not operating. Not municipal potable by description. | Not verified for GW-scale evaporative plant. Do not assume it. | Pilbara water is contested industrial water. Do not assume municipal or evaporative supply. |
| Cooling | Lake Liddell and closed-loop liquid are the thermal hypothesis. Evaporative towers exist at Bayswater for generation, not for a campus. | Tropical dry/wet bulb is a first-order opex. Liquid, closed-loop and non-evaporative architectures are the rational default. Raw water (Ross Dam pipeline in design) is industrial water, not a municipal-water story, and is not operating. | Extreme heat and cyclone. Non-evaporative liquid is the conservative architecture. Water for evaporative plant should not be assumed. | Desert/cyclone. PH1 used 55 °C-rated condensers. High-density liquid is the only serious architecture above a few MW. |
| Climate | Upper Hunter — hot summers, industrial water assets. | Tropical northern Australia — wet season, cyclone season, high dry-bulb. | Tropical monsoon. Heat and humidity are severe. | Hot desert / cyclone coast. |
| Planning | Hub enabling works underway. Compute not approved. | Precinct exists. Compute not applied for. | Announced. Not approved. | SIA exists. Hyperscale compute not applied for. |
| Sovereign value | No special defence adjacency evidenced. | Proposition B sits in the city (JCU, Lavarack, NQ SPARK), not automatically on the 2,200 ha pad. | Darwin defence geography is real. The Weddell gas campus is not automatically a sovereign facility. | Not the primary evidenced demand. |
| Expansion | 250–1000 MW | 100–500 MW | 250–2000 MW | 100–500 MW |
| Environmental risk | Expect power-station residues. RAP-level detail not extracted here. | Not a Qenos-class contamination object. Confirm per lot. | Not a petrochemical RAP story. Confirm. | Industrial. Confirm. |
| Development risk | Retired nameplate is not a connection offer. | The most important unknown is connectable MW in 2028/2030/2032/2035. Theoretical REZ energy is not an answer. | Announced GW is the failure mode this product exists to catch. | Iron processing and hydrogen are the evidenced land uses. |
| Overall confidence | Moderate confidence | Moderate confidence | Preliminary | Moderate confidence |