New Zealand data center firm Datagrid has been granted approval to develop a campus in Invercargill on the country’s South Island.

Datagrid New Zealand this week announced that it has received full resource consent approval for its planned 280MW, 78,000 sqm (840,000 sq ft) data center in Makarewa.

The approvals have been granted by Southland District Council, Environment Southland, and Invercargill City Council, paving the way for construction to commence.

The company added that the landing of the Tasman Ring Network subsea cable at Oreti Beach has been fully approved, representing the first international subsea connection to New Zealand’s South Island.

“We extend our sincere gratitude - ngā mihi nui - to the iwi, landowners, local councils, and the Southland community for their unwavering support throughout this process,” said Remi Galasso, founder and CEO at Datagrid New Zealand. “This approval is the result of years of dedication and collaboration, and we are excited about the transformative impact this project will have on Southland and New Zealand as a whole.”

First announced in December 2020, Datagrid – founded by Galasso, founder of the Hawaiki Cable, alongside Callplus Ltd founder Malcolm Dick – aims to develop a large data center on New Zealand’s South Island. It originally acquired 43-hectares (later expanded to 49 hectares) in Makarewa, a small town 7km north of Invercargill, in early 2022 and filed a land use application later that year. The University of Otago is set to be an anchor tenant of the facility, which could go live in 2028.

Plans for the Tasman Ring Network were announced in late 2024. The 6,000km cable will connect Auckland, New Plymouth, Greymouth, and Invercargill in New Zealand to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. Set to offer 540Tbps, the system is set to go live in 2027.

Kiwi operator T4 Group has also previously outlined plans for a data center near Invercargill.