Amazon has announced a significant investment of AU$20 billion in Australia between 2025 and 2029, marking the country’s largest publicly-announced global technology investment. The investment is primarily focused on expanding data center infrastructure in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as developing three new solar farms in Victoria and Queensland.
Investment Details
The company’s plans are part of its support for Australia’s vision to enhance productivity and economic growth through AI innovation. According to figures from the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources, AI and automation could contribute up to AU$600 billion annually to Australia’s GDP by 2030.
Data Centers and Renewable Energy
The new data centers in Sydney and Melbourne will be a significant component of the investment. Additionally, Amazon will build three new solar farms, adding over 170 megawatts of clean energy to the grid. This brings the total number of Amazon’s solar and wind projects in Australia to 11, which are expected to generate more than 1.4 million megawatt hours of clean energy annually when operational.
Economic and Training Impact
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described this as the largest investment from a global technology provider, presenting an exciting opportunity for Australia to develop AI capability using secure infrastructure. As part of the investment, Amazon has pledged to work with educational institutions and industry partners to provide further training opportunities, having already trained over 400,000 Australian citizens since 2017.
AWS CEO Matt Garman stated, “AI is a once-in-a-generation transformation, and Amazon is pleased to be empowering all Australians to innovate at scale through this investment.” This announcement follows recent commitments by AWS to expand cloud computing infrastructure in Pennsylvania with a $20 billion investment and a further $10 billion commitment for North Carolina.
