Plans for New Zealand’s first AI datacentre spark local opposition amid environmental concerns

Singapore-based Datagrid has secured approval to build a NZ$3.5bn AI datacentre in Makarewa, while local residents and advocates demand greater transparency.

• Datagrid secured approval to build the datacentre on a 49-hectare site near Invercargill, with construction due to begin this year and operations by 2028.
• The datacentre will become New Zealand’s second largest electricity user at 280MW and has approval to draw up to 604,800 litres of groundwater daily and operate 84 diesel backup generators.
• Economic geographer Angus Dowell said the project raised “a lot of red flags” and provided only short-term economic benefits with minimal long-term employment.
• Southland Sustainable Resource coalition chair Kelly Blomfield said residents felt the region had been “sold out” and that attempts to obtain information from Datagrid had failed.