The Quinbrook Supernode project, at Brendale,  is a mission critical data centre. It will intersect the new Torus dark fibre data cable, which will directly connect Brisbane for the first time ever to the international sub-sea cable recently landed at Maroochydore from Guam.

Quinbrook plans a a multi-tenant campus of up to four hyperscale data centres that will connect directly to the adjacent South Pine substation offering up to 800 MWs of power supply capacity with three separate high voltage connections.  

The commitment from Rest looks to provide exposure to a range of assets, such as solar and battery projects and green data storage centres, including Quinbrook’s Supernode green data campus in Brisbane – believed to be the largest in the southern hemisphere.

Quinbrook said renewable power projects all over Queensland transmitted their power to South Pine, which provided Supernode with an options to procure low-cost renewable power.

Rest’s chief investment officer Andrew Lill said sustainable digitisation is key to allowing the rapid transformation and connectivity of the global economy to continue in an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly manner.

“In a world increasingly reliant on data, and through the global growth in cloud-based technologies and AI, data centres have become big business and demand for this critical infrastructure is expected to accelerate,” he said.

“Repositories for the storage, management and dissemination of data require significant investments and huge amounts of energy.

The investment in Quinbrook aims to provide strong long-term financial returns through greater exposure to next-generation infrastructure in Australia and beyond,.

“Climate change mitigation, the energy transition and the road to net zero are creating some great investment opportunities for our members. We represent more than a million members aged 30 or younger, who will retire after the year 2050,” said Mr Lill.

“This is another example of how we use our knowledge and experience as a direct investor in renewable energy infrastructure to identify opportunities that provide greater scale to the portfolio, supporting our continued commitment to delivering strong long-term returns to members.

“Quinbrook is an established and experienced renewables specialist that is looking to help power the net zero transition through targeting large-scale sustainable investments.

“This investment is expected to help our members grow their super while contributing to a more sustainable future.

Quinbrook was established in July 2015 by David Scaysbrook and Rory Quinlan who have invested in renewables for over two decades and in power infrastructure more broadly since the early 1990s.

Its Australian offices are on the Gold Coast.