Large data storage centre proposed for Southland
A CONSTRUCTION workforce of about 800 people would be needed for up to 18 months to create a large cloudcomputing data centre in Southland.
The $700 million storage centre is planned for the Makarewa area north of Invercargill and it would initially cover 25,000sq m and use 60MW of power.
Datagrid project leader Remi Galasso expected construction to start before the end of next year.
‘‘We are obviously committed to work with local construction companies as much as we can,’’ he said.
Once in operation, Datagrid would employ 25 people.
Mr Galasso confirmed the operation would need a large anchor tenant — such as Microsoft, Google or Facebook — to proceed.
Globally, the demand for data centres is growing.
Southland’s cool climate is one element that improves the viability of the venture, because of savings that could be made on cooling systems.
Access to renewable energy is another factor tech giants could find favourable.
Meridian Energy is a partner in the project and has agreed to supply electricity from the Manapouri hydro power scheme.
If the facility is scaled up to 100MW, it could consume as much power as a town of 80,000 people.
Two subsea cables would be laid from Invercargill — one to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia and one to Mangawhai Heads north of Auckland — as part of the project.
One of the cables would link New Zealand cities on the east coast.
Mr Galasso said Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland were confirmed in the business plan and the possibility of a branch in Dunedin was being studied.
Locating a data centre of such size in New Zealand is expected to enhance the country’s tech infrastructure.
‘‘We strongly believe in the development of a digital ecosystem for the South Island, involving not only Invercargill but also Dunedin, Christchurch and obviously Queenstown,’’ Mr Galasso said.
Dunedin’s Centre of Digital Excellence establishment director Tim Ponting said development of the centre would benefit some consumers and the system would be more efficient.