Political pressure and public scrutiny are growing over Datagrid’s proposed $3.5 billion AI data centre at Makarewa, following last week’s packed public meeting and continuing concerns about the project’s non-notified consent, resource demands, infrastructure impacts and wider data-sovereignty implications.
As RCR reported last Thursday, hundreds of locals packed the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club to hear more about the company’s planned 78,000-square-metre facility at Makarewa. They questioned the complex’s electricity demand, noise, water use and potential infrastructure impacts. Concerns were also raised about dependence on foreign-controlled technology companies, data sovereignty and the use of customer information to train AI systems. Datagrid did not attend the meeting.
The centre is expected to open in 2028 and will use about 280 megawatts of power, making it New Zealand’s second-largest single electricity user behind the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. It also has consent to draw more than 600,000 litres of groundwater daily, but the company said it does not currently intend to use groundwater, instead proposing to cool the facility using Southland’s low average temperatures and harvested rainwater.
Datagrid also maintained the project would unlock new renewable generation rather than add pressure to the existing electricity network. Mercury has invested $53 million for a minority stake in the company after signing a 140-megawatt power purchase agreement. The company says construction would create around 1,200 jobs, although the completed facility would employ about 80 permanent staff.
Somewhat in response to the concerns, the Green Party has called for a one-year pause on all AI data centre consents so that regulations could be written. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon rejected a moratorium, while Labour supported urgent regulation and ACT opposed restrictions that could discourage new technology.
Similar disputes have emerged in Britain. Residents in Slough, home to 40 data centres, have spoken about heat and low-frequency noise, while preliminary Cambridge-led research suggests data facilities could raise temperatures in surrounding areas by an average of 2°C.
Read more at 1 News, RNZ, What’sOnInvers, Newsroom, DailyMail UK and Carina Ovesen on X. And for RCR’s earlier coverage, listen or watch Paul Brennan’s interview with Kelly Blomfield on the Southland data centre and learn more on RCR’s Rural Report.
Image credit: Getty Images
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