49-hectare Makarewa campus
The consented site is at 342 and 370 Flora Road East. The council record specifies six data halls, a substation and a cable landing station.
DIGITAL.NZ INTELLIGENCE · PROJECT TRACKER 02 HORIZONTAL WORKS
A living evidence file on the proposed hyperscale AI campus north of Invercargill—tracking the distance between a consented, active site and a fully financed, connected and contracted operating asset.
CURRENT ASSESSMENT
Makarewa has moved beyond a rendering: resource consents are granted, Stage 1 commencement documentation is public, HEB Construction is undertaking horizontal works, Mercury has invested, and the Tasman Ring suppliers have been contracted.
Those achievements materially reduce development risk. They do not yet establish a completed final investment decision, fully contracted customer demand, delivered grid connection, firm full-load electricity supply or an operating subsea cable.
A 30 August review found no later public announcement that closes the FID or customer gates. Horizontal works remain the latest evidenced project-stage change; the operator’s 2028 opening date remains a target dependent on capital, customers, power, grid and cable delivery.
EVIDENCE GATES
The consented site is at 342 and 370 Flora Road East. The council record specifies six data halls, a substation and a cable landing station.
Southland District Council, Environment Southland and Invercargill City Council granted the necessary resource consents in March 2026.
Road access, earthworks and a six-metre screening bund have commenced. The operator targets the foundation platforms by the end of 2026.
Mercury invested US$30m, reported as NZ$53m, and its chief executive joined the Datagrid NZ board.
Mercury's July 2026 market announcement said FID was expected later in the year. No later public FID announcement was identified in the 30 August review, so this remains a central project gate.
No public source reviewed through 30 August establishes contracted hyperscale tenants or the capacity and term of customer commitments.
The 15-year Mercury arrangement is a power purchase option and covers part of the various capacity figures published for the project.
Opening depends on construction, grid commissioning, equipment, customers, capital and international connectivity arriving in sequence.
CAPACITY RECONCILIATION
Southland District Council describes up to 240MW supporting AI training, data processing and storage across six halls.
Datagrid's public website markets 280MW of hyperscale capacity across three modules. The basis may include facility definitions beyond consented IT load.
Mercury's NZX announcement calls it a 360MW project. A 360MVA substation rating or project load should not be treated as equivalent to IT capacity.
Digital.nz preserves each source's terminology rather than forcing unlike measures into one figure. Investor models should distinguish IT load, total facility load, grid-connection rating, contracted electricity and phased delivered capacity.
DELIVERY DEPENDENCIES
Each layer must arrive at usable scale and timing. A strong result in one layer does not remove the delivery risk in another.
HEB Construction
Data centre, GXP and cable landing
Mercury minority equity
Mercury PPOA
Dedicated GXP / long-lead equipment
Invercargill–Melbourne
AI, cloud and high-density compute
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
What capital stack, construction scope, phasing and conditions are approved—and what is excluded from the first committed phase?
Which counterparties commit capacity, for how long, at what ramp profile and with what credit support?
When does the 140MW option become supply, how is remaining load covered, and what additional generation or flexibility is enabled?
Does the dedicated connection reach commissioning on schedule, and what constraints apply to ramping toward operational load?
Marine survey, manufacture, permits, installation, landing, testing and customer pre-sales should be tracked separately.
Watch for data-hall contractors, long-lead electrical and cooling systems, GPU/customer equipment and module completion.
Track monitoring of noise, emissions, water, wetlands, traffic and community liaison against published conditions.
Separate temporary construction employment from permanent roles, local procurement, skills transfer and durable digital activity.
CORE SOURCES
Digital.nz can prepare a source document review, dependency analysis, power and connectivity brief, regional land screen or continuously monitored project file.
Discuss a project brief →