‘A lot of red flags’: plans for New Zealand’s first AI datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency

A digital rendering of the Datagrid data centre in Makarewa, New Zealand. Composite: Datagrid NZ

People living near the site of New Zealand’s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre’s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them.

Singapore-based company Datagrid has secured approval to build a NZ$3.5bn (US$2bn) AI datacentre on a 49-hectare site in Makarewa, just north of New Zealand’s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational by 2028.