Datagrid plans $500m hyperscale DC and two new subsea cables Sign in with LinkedIn 17 December 2020 | Natalie Bannerman Datagrid New Zealand has announced plans to build a new $500 million (A$700 million) hyperscale data centre in South Island, New Zealand. The new facility, to be located in North Makarewa in Southland, will enable tech giants like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft, to serve close to 20 million customers across eastern Australia and New Zealand. The project has already garnered input from Meridian Energy which will deliver 100MW of power from its 800MW Manapouri hydro scheme to the Datagrid site. Born the brainchild of Hawaiki Cable founder, Remi Galasso and CallPlus co-founder Malcolm Dick, the aim of Datagrid aims to replicate the success of other of the Icelandic data centre industry, which is known for its cool climate and cheap sustainable power to become of the biggest data and cloud hubs globally.