Detailed Business Case: the five-case evidence to invest.

Reference project what is being decided

A ~2 MW, ~2,850-GPU behind-the-meter pilot at CleanCo's Swanbank Energy Precinct — closed-loop liquid cooled to the Cooling Water Dam, firmed battery-first — staged through 20 MW and 100 MW phases toward the 800 MW program on the same 1.2 GW connection. Stage-1 commitment ~A$116M (all-equity worst case).

1 · Strategic case developed in the SBC

Regulated Australian workloads run on foreign-owned compute under widening legal exposure (CLOUD Act, FISA 702, EO 12333), while QGOV inference demand scales ~A$15M/yr → ~A$1.17B/yr (2033–35) with no sovereign supply. Q1 is the firmed, in-region substrate that closes the gap. Full articulation in the Strategic Business Case.

Critical success factors: firmed power + grid headroom + heat sink under one cooperative owner; AU ownership with no foreign legal nexus; contracted offtake; uptime; auditable renewable path.

2 · Economic case options + cost-benefit analysis

Options analysis (siting / cooling / power / staging) selected the Swanbank reference project — detail in the Preliminary Business Case. The cost-benefit analysis below appraises that option's economic (whole-of-economy) value, distinct from the firm's financial return in §4. Real discount rates per Queensland CBA convention (7% central; 4% / 10% sensitivity).

Unmonetised but material (not in the BCR, decisive on their own): sovereign capability; elimination of CLOUD Act / FISA 702 data-egress exposure; SOCI / APRA / AUKUS Pillar 2 compliance enablement; strategic optionality on the 800 MW envelope; zero potable water per token. Consistent with BCDF guidance, the strategic case is the primary justification; the CBA confirms positive economic value alongside it. Figures are directional, pre-final-terms.

3 · Commercial case procurement, agreements, risk transfer

Procurement strategy: direct-negotiated site & grid agreements with CleanCo / Powerlink (single cooperative landlord); competitive GPU supply RFQ mirroring the SpaceX-agreement teeth — hard delivery deadline, capacity-ramp pricing, pro-rata shortfall relief; offtake as term tenancies over firmed-MW blocks.

4 · Financial case affordability, funding, returns

5-year P&L (illustrative, A$m, with utilisation ramp):

Sources & uses (~A$116M):

Returns & sensitivity (illustrative, pre-final-terms):

~69% of capital is GPUs — a liquid, resaleable asset (market +40% in six months) — the downside backstop. Every cell is editable in the financial model; figures here are illustrative and pre-final-terms. The model’s Assumptions and P&L tabs are pre-tax and pre-financing (per its README), so the NPV, IRR and DSCR rows above are illustrative tax/financing overlays, not cells in the spreadsheet. Terminal value counts GPU resale only; going-concern value is excluded (conservative).

5 · Management case delivery, governance, benefits

Delivery model: owner's team + specialist EPC for the electrical/cooling fit-out; staged commissioning. Governance: board with investor-director seats; an investment committee approving each staircase FID; a project control group with monthly reporting; AU-resident shareholder register evidenced.

Benefits realisation plan — measured KPIs: utilisation ≥85%; uptime ≥99.9%; tenancies signed (target ≥2 incl. Customer #2 within 12 months); contracted ARR; sovereign workloads migrated; renewable-provenance %. Reviewed at each Gateway gate.

Quantified risk register inherent → residual

Residual heat-map (likelihood × consequence; managed position):

Assumptions & evidence register what the case stands on

Recommendation & investment decision Gateway Gate 3 · pending

The reference project is recommended for investment subject to the conditions precedent below. The decision does not open until they are green.

Independent assurance & full Gateway readiness: see the Assurance & readiness page.