Debt is the sector's real ballot box, and it is voting yes, in sustainability-linked format
Debt is the sector's real ballot box and it is voting yes, in sustainability-linked format. AirTrunk's A$16bn refinancing drew 60 banks, with senior, private, bank and green lines sitting alongside it.
Global context, and a cautionary template
- US operating ~50 GW vs Australia's ~1.35 GW (ITK; US figure from FERC via Utility Dive). Australia is under 3% of the US market by capacity (1.35/50 = 2.7%).
- Aligned Data Centers (Macquarie-owned) sold to a BlackRock/GIP/MGX/Microsoft/Nvidia consortium at US$40bn EV (2025), surpassing AirTrunk as the largest DC deal.
- Global under-construction trackers diverge wildly: C&W 31.7 GW, JLL 35 GW (North America alone), BNEF 23.1 GW, and CBRE showed the first YoY decline in US construction starts (2025).
The scale check, GW: one scale for capacity and the trackers
United States
~50 GW
~1.35 GW
31.7 GW
JLL (North America alone)
35 GW
23.1 GW
The warning inside the context
If the US, with ~37x Australia's capacity, is seeing construction starts roll over, Australian pipeline claims deserve the same scepticism. Australia's 44 GW request queue is the local version of the same inflation.
Headline facilities by borrower
| Borrower | Facilities |
|---|---|
| AirTrunk | A$16bn SLL refinancing (Aug 2025, 60 banks); >A$18bn total; ~A$4.3bn Kemps Creek construction facility sought (2026) |
| NEXTDC | A$3.5bn senior debt (14 Aug 2025) + A$2.3bn (financial close 15 Jul 2026) = A$5.8bn of senior debt facilities; A$1.6bn drawn at 30 Jun 2026 |
| Firmus | US$10bn private debt (Blackstone/Coatue, Feb 2026), among Australia's largest-ever private debt financings |
| CDC | A$2.7bn bank facility (Mar 2026); 555 MW contract debt-funded, no new equity |
| Stack | A$1.3bn green loan (Jul 2025; Deutsche Bank, MUFG, Natixis, OCBC, SocGen) |
| DCI | World-first combined green + sustainability-linked refinancing (Natixis, 2022) |
Sector debt is predominantly sustainability-linked/green: cheaper, deeper, and pre-aligned with net-generator compliance.
The debt ledger: AirTrunk's A$16bn refi drew 60 banks; senior, private, bank and green lines sit alongside it
The debt ledger: A$ facilities drawn to one scale; the US$ facility shown separately in US$
Firmus private debt (Blackstone/Coatue)
How the A$ ledger splits by stated format: inashanu estimate, shares of the A$25.8bn sum of the four A$ figures above
~67% sustainability-linked or green
~33% format not stated
AirTrunk SLL refi A$16bn + Stack green loan A$1.3bn = A$17.3bn
NEXTDC A$5.8bn + CDC A$2.7bn = A$8.5bn
Sources
- Reuters/Yahoo, as at 25 Aug 2025
- Kalkine, as at Jul 2026
- DCD, as at 9 Feb 2026
- Infratil, as at Mar 2026
- ITK Research, as at May 2026
- Natixis, as at Jan 2022
- Mingtiandi, as at Nov 2025
- UVRN, as at 24 Jul 2026
- MBA Newslink/CBRE, as at Mar 2026
- Utility Dive/FERC, as at 26 Mar 2026
- ITK, as at May 2026
Related
- What have Australian data centres sold for?
- How do Goodman and Stack make money from data centres?
- What yields and cap rates do Australian data centres trade at?
- What are the risks in Australian data centre investment?
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