# OpenAI data centre drops recycled-water cooling plan in Sydney 2026-08-15T14:42:45+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet OpenAI’s planned 612-megawatt S7 data centre in Sydney will no longer use recycled water to cool its servers. Developer NEXTDC abandoned plans for a dedicated wastewater pipeline after failing to secure the required planning permits, Reuters reported through The Times of India. The facility will instead use a closed-loop liquid cooling system that circulates coolant over processing chips and releases heat through fans. The system will not use drinking water, but analysts expect it to consume more electricity. The change comes as Sydney’s grid operator warns that data centre demand is putting pressure on transmission capacity. OpenAI and NEXTDC signed an agreement in December 2025 for OpenAI to use part of the centre’s capacity. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Tags: Australia, ChatGPT, NEXTDC, OpenAI, Sydney Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/openai-data-centre-drops-recycled-water-cooling-plan-in-sydney/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/openai-data-centre-drops-recycled-water-cooling-plan-in-sydney/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.