Systems & Capacity
The following capacity figures reflect commissioned and provisioned infrastructure. Figures are subject to revision as operational thresholds are validated and integration milestones are confirmed.
Capacity is reported as a combination of commissioned (in operation) and provisioned (built and ready for activation). Values represent sustained operating envelopes rather than peak or theoretical maxima.
Where ranges are provided, they reflect variation driven by cooling mode, redundancy configuration, and integration constraints. Operational envelopes may be revised as thresholds are confirmed under live load.
Stage One refers to the initial commissioned run of the facility, including supporting energy and thermal systems required for stable continuous operation.
| Category | Metric | Stage One | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built form | Continuous building length | ~1.6km | Single run (continuous envelope) |
| Built form | Enclosed floor area | ~900,000m² | Total area under roof |
| Compute | Active compute floor (white space) | ~320,000m² | Commissioned zones only |
| Power | Installed IT load (sustained) | ~1.55GW | Continuous envelope |
| Power | Total facility draw (sustained) | ~1.8GW | Includes cooling and conversion losses |
| Energy | Daily energy consumption (at sustained draw) | ~43.2GWh/day | 1.8GW × 24h |
| Energy | Annualised energy (at sustained draw) | ~15.8TWh/year | Indicative at continuous operation |
| Thermal | Heat rejected (continuous) | ~1.5GW thermal | IT load dominance assumed |
| Cooling | Cooling water circulation (peak internal loop) | ~90–110m³/s | Mode dependent; closed-loop circulation |
| Efficiency | Target PUE (cold-season average) | ~1.15–1.17 | Envelope target |
| Operations | Mean time to isolate (containment) | < 90seconds | Fault-domain isolation target |
| Operations | Human staffing (typical 24h coverage) | < 300 | On-site staffing; excludes off-site support |
Definitions: “commissioned” indicates operating under sustained load; “white space” refers to compute hall allocation under live service.
Provisioned capacity refers to infrastructure that has been constructed and integrated to the point where activation is a sequencing decision rather than a civil programme. Values reflect design envelopes reserved within installed power and thermal spines.
| Category | Metric | Provisioned total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built form | Total continuous length (design) | ~4.2km | End-state geometry reserved |
| Built form | Total enclosed area (design) | ~3.4million m² | Under-roof envelope |
| Power | Maximum sustained IT load (envelope) | ~10GW | Conservative planning envelope |
| Power | Maximum sustained facility draw (envelope) | ~8–12GW | Cooling mode and redundancy dependent |
| Generation | Hydro generation capacity (staged) | ~6–8GW | Installed and planned units |
| Storage | Pumped storage buffer | ~18–22GWh | Commissioning and ramp support |
| Electrical | Substation spines (linear) | ~5km | Distributed conversion and switching |
| Cooling | Cooling galleries (linear) | > 18km | Terminated and blanked for activation |
| Networks | Conduit banks (power + data) | > 1,200km | Includes dark fibre allocation |
| Energy | Projected annual energy (full envelope) | ~90–100TWh/year | Indicative at sustained operation |
| Lifecycle | Design operating horizon | 40–60years | Upgrade-in-place assumed |
‘Continuous’ refers to a structurally and operationally unified envelope composed of repeated, compartmentalised segments rather than a single uninterrupted interior volume.
Provisioned capacity may be present as capped foundations, terminated galleries, energised spines, and reserved envelopes within installed generation and conversion assets.
The following scenarios describe operational containment patterns and residual impacts. This section is provided for completeness and reflects system-level planning assumptions.
| Failure scenario | Trigger condition | Immediate effect | Containment response | Residual impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydro unit trip (single) | Turbine instability; grid transient | ~400MW loss | Pumped storage discharge; staged shedding | No external visibility |
| Hydro unit trip (multiple) | Common-mode fault | ~800–1,200MW loss | Automated throttling; hall isolation | Training paused; inference preserved |
| Pumped storage unavailable | Maintenance overlap; lockout | Loss of ramp buffer | Commissioning suspended | Political, not technical |
| Cooling spine degradation | Intake blockage; fouling | Rising delta-T | Thermal derate; workload migration | Localised performance loss |
| Cooling spine failure | Pump cascade; structural fault | Thermal runaway risk | Hard isolation (< 60seconds) | Hardware sacrifice expected |
| HV substation fault | Insulation failure; switching error | 200–500MW islanding | Automated re-route across spine | Audible event; no outage |
| Transmission corridor loss | Physical damage | Segment isolation | Local generation absorbs shock | Grid islanding tolerated |
| Compute fabric partition | Control plane instability | Workload fragmentation | Automatic rebind; failover | Training time penalty |
| Control system desynchronisation | Clock drift; firmware mismatch | Cross-domain misalignment | Forced synchronisation halt | Human oversight required |
| Black start required | Total site collapse (modelled) | Complete power loss | Hydro-led restart | External attention unavoidable |
| Compound failure (grid + cooling) | Extreme event; cascading faults | Unrecoverable thermal risk | Controlled sacrificial shutdown | Equipment loss accepted |
| Public disclosure event | Leak; imagery circulation | Narrative instability | Meaning management | Trust erosion |
Note: Recovery time is measured operationally; reputational impact is measured institutionally.
The facility is provisioned for heterogeneous accelerator architectures with varying power density, memory topology, and interconnect requirements. Capacity figures reported above reflect aggregate operating envelopes rather than interchangeable compute units.
Certain workloads are bound to specific accelerator characteristics and cannot be migrated without material efficiency or performance impact. Provisioning accounts for long-lead semiconductor supply cycles, constrained fabrication capacity, and components subject to export control regimes.
Note: Published capacity envelopes do not imply equivalence across accelerator classes or workload categories.
Historical versions of this page are retained in accordance with recordkeeping obligations.
Background on generation and water systems is described under Hydropower and Energy Systems.
Principles guiding site development and integration are outlined under Infrastructure Principles and Site Development.