Datagrid NZ Partnership Limited - Resource Consents

The resource consents sought by Datagrid NZ Partnership Limited from Environment Southland are granted.

Datagrid NZ Partnership Limited applied for resource consents associated with establishing and operating a datacentre near Makarewa.

The resource consents which Environment Southland has responsibility for relate to discharges to air and water, taking water, and a wetland – these are listed below. Environment Southland is not a construction or energy regulator and does not have any regional rules relating to the use of generated electricity. Southland District Council issued a land use consent to establish a hyperscale datacentre including a GXP substation (not notified). All resource consents were determined by an independent commissioner.

The ecologist who reviewed the application noted that the affected wetland is small and dominated by exotic pasture species with no indigenous species present. No modifications or drainage were authorised to the regionally significant wetland at the south end of the site.

The application for the consents was not publicly notified because the activities were assessed as having no more than minor environmental effects, as per the Resource Management Act. Directly affected parties were consulted and they provided written approvals – tangata tiaki of the Ōreti Mataitai, Invercargill City Council and Department of Conservation, and landowners with potentially affected bores.

The datacentre will provide up to 240megawatts (MW) of IT capacity and will be utilised for Artificial Intelligence (AI) training, processing and data storage. To enable and support the datacentre a highspeed internet cable providing connectivity to the site will be installed. The subsea cable will extend from Ōreti Beach, Invercargill to Australia.

Consents granted are:

• To discharge wastewater to land (01)
• To discharge contaminants to air from diesel generators (02)
• To take and use groundwater (03)
• To take groundwater to dewater a construction area (04)
• To remove a wetland (05)
• Occupy the coastal marine area with a datacable (06)
• Install a datacable in the coastal marine area (07)
• To discharge water from dewatering of a site (08)
• Earthworks in proximity of a wetland (09)

You can also read the s42A Report - Decision Recommending Report and the Decision by commissioner document.