IREN's Redbank Campus Adds 900MW To Its Plans, But Power Is Not Secured Yet

• IREN outlined plans for a 900MW Redbank data center in Australia, outside its secured 5GW power portfolio.
• The project remained in early assessment, with grid connection and New South Wales planning approvals still pending.
• IREN shares matched their quarterly low at the close Tuesday, amid broader weakness in AI cloud stocks and spending concerns.

IREN Limited (IREN) is expanding its Australian data center ambitions with a proposed 900-megawatt campus in New South Wales, but the project remains outside the company’s announced 5-gigawatt secured-power portfolio. 

The Nasdaq-listed group outlined early plans for the site, called Redbank, in a post on X. 

Redbank Remains Outside IREN’s Secured-Power Portfolio

IREN shares edged lower in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company told investors that a proposed data center campus in regional New South Wales is “not included in our announced 5GW secured-power portfolio.”

IREN said the project was at the early assessment stage. The Bitcoin (BTC) miner said it was working toward a grid connection, and Redbank is the first site IREN has announced outside the secured figure. 

Early Stage And Unsecured

IREN said it was holding a public discussion about Redbank ahead of lodging a scoping report, which it described as the first step in the New South Wales planning approval process.

The company said it wanted local residents to have information on the proposal before that filing. The project was expected to create local jobs and stimulate the Wagga Wagga region's economy. However, community opposition has shaped data center proposals in Australia this year, and IREN tried to win over Redbank residents before the formal process began.

Second Australian Site Faces Long Development Timeline 

IREN reportedly planned to spend more than $10 billion on the 900-megawatt facility, according to a Capital Brief report, which said the company expected to pay more than $200 million to Wagga Wagga City Council over 30 years toward a community benefit fund, infrastructure projects, and rates. 

The report said the project targeted a grid connection in 2029 and would be built in stages over six to eight years, with the scoping report due at the end of October and community sessions set for November 4 and November 5. The announcement raised IREN’s Australian pipeline to 1.7 gigawatts.

What The Annual Report Shows

In its annual report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), IREN disclosed nine announced data center projects. Redbank wasn’t one of them. As of that date, the company had signed grid connection agreements, letters of agreement, or equivalents totaling about 5 gigawatts in the United States, Canada, Spain, and Australia.

The list included Bundey in South Australia. IREN announced the 800-megawatt campus on June 3 and said it had signed a transmission connection agreement securing four 330-kilovolt feeder exits, with energization to come from 2028. Redbank has no similar agreement.

IREN Stock: Retail Remains Bullish

IREN stock was down 0.4% in early morning trade. On StockTwits, retail sentiment around IREN remained in the ‘bullish’ zone, with ‘extremely high’ chatter levels over the past day.

IREN closed at $34.80 on Tuesday and has fallen in the five sessions before. 

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