New proposed data centre in Southland w/ Director of Pūtahi Research, Daniel Collins: 16th March, 2026

Last week, resource consents were approved for a $3.5 billion AI Data Centre to be constructed near Invercargill. While most of the commentary around the data centre is discussing how it could benefit New Zealand’s economy or connectivity, few are discussing the potential environmental ramifications. 

While the consent applications aren’t public, data centres overseas have been known to have varying degrees of environmental impact, including pulling drinking water out of communities and farmlands and subsequently creating droughts and increasing temperatures.

To evaluate how a data centre could operate in New Zealand, News Director Castor spoke to director of Pūtahi research, a consulting firm specialising in water and climate resilience, Daniel Collins.