{"id":23860,"date":"2026-07-10T01:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T23:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/a-lot-of-red-flags-plans-for-new-zealands-first-datacentre-spark-concern-as-locals-demand-greater-transparency\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T01:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T23:37:14","slug":"a-lot-of-red-flags-plans-for-new-zealands-first-datacentre-spark-concern-as-locals-demand-greater-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/a-lot-of-red-flags-plans-for-new-zealands-first-datacentre-spark-concern-as-locals-demand-greater-transparency\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A lot of red flags\u2019: plans for New Zealand\u2019s first datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country\u2019s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution<\/p>\n<p>People living near the site of New Zealand\u2019s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre\u2019s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational by 2028.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/jul\/10\/new-zealand-first-datacentre-concern-locals-makarewa-invercargill-datagrid\">Continue reading&#8230;<\/a><br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/527d3fa7efa3135efb525f15e0d77b7379fe2335\/447_0_932_746\/master\/932.jpg?width=140&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=c8a2e8510239f4fbffdf43a360e02aba\" title=\"\u2018A lot of red flags\u2019: plans for New Zealand\u2019s first datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency\" \/>Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country\u2019s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution<br \/>\nPeople living near the site of New Zealand\u2019s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre\u2019s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them.<br \/>\nSingapore-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\u2019s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational by 2028. Continue reading&#8230;Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country\u2019s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution People living near the site of New Zealand\u2019s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre\u2019s huge electricity and water use and &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/a-lot-of-red-flags-plans-for-new-zealands-first-datacentre-spark-concern-as-locals-demand-greater-transparency\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\u2018A lot of red flags\u2019: plans for New Zealand\u2019s first datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":23861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23860"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}