Hedland becomes major port for new industry

Port Hedland will become a national hub for a new kind of port critical to the future of the Pilbara’s multi-billion-dollar resources industry.

The red-hued Pilbara town famous for being home to the world’s largest bulk export port was on Tuesday revealed as the new location for one of NextDC’s data centres.

The data centre, announced to the ASX, will be the first in the region and will service the mining and resources sector’s growing digital infrastructure needs for automation, sensors, software and other modern technology.

NEXTDC chief commercial officer David Dzienciol said the new centre, named PH1, would enable further economic growth.

“Multi-faceted partnerships are increasingly driving the need for real-time insights, improved response times and better availability of data as key fundamentals in digital transformation across many industry sectors,” he said.

“The new Port Hedland site will enable NEXTDC and our ecosystem partners, including BHP, Vocus and Microsoft, to offer continued innovation such as cloud technology together with operational support to the mining and resources sector which is currently undergoing exciting digital change and transformation.”

PH1 follows a similar announcement by NextDC to install a data centre in Darwin and comes off the back of Vocus switching on its high-capacity data cable between Port Hedland and Singapore.

Vocus is also working on Project Horizon, which will complete a national cable network via a 2000km line from Port Hedland to Perth by the end of 2024.

Microsoft Australia and New Zealand mining and energy director Malcolm De Silva said real-time data in remote areas was important for business.

“Importantly, PH1 Port Hedland combines security, safety and uptime resilience with low-latency connectivity, allowing Microsoft to extend its cloud applications and platforms to a number of mining operators across remote Australia.”