NEXTDC reported 565.1 MW of forward orders in its FY26 results on 27 August, defined as binding contracted commitments, then listed what the number leaves out: options, reservations, letters of intent, memoranda of understanding and sales pipeline1. The Australian operator builds and leases colocation space, the model in which a landlord supplies power, cooling and floor while customers install their own equipment.
An order book records work customers have contracted for but have not yet been billed for. NEXTDC dated the conversion as well, with 197 MW scheduled to reach billing in FY27 and a further 221 MW in FY28, against FY27 capital expenditure guidance of A$5.25bn to A$5.75bn. Around three quarters of the book turns into invoices inside two years, which concentrates construction and grid-connection risk in a narrow window and spends the capital well before the revenue arrives.
Set that beside the looser measure the sector runs on. Synergy Research counted a 45 GW United States pipeline across 74 companies in July, a total that sweeps in everything NEXTDC has just excluded. The two figures describe different things and cannot be laid side by side, however alike the framing looks. Publishing an exclusion list is what makes the difference legible to anyone reading the accounts rather than the press release.
