新西兰已批准新加坡Datagrid公司投资35亿新西兰元建设一座280兆瓦的AI数据中心，该项目预计于2028年启动运营[1]。该数据中心建成后将成为新西兰第二大用电户，仅次于Tiwai Point铝冶炼厂[1]，并预计将该国的数据处理能力增加一倍以上[1]。
数据中心的高耗电量引发了对电力系统的关注。为满足280兆瓦的电力需求，Datagrid已与Mercury公司签署电力购买协议，覆盖其中140兆瓦的用量[1]。根据Transpower的估计，每削减一吉瓦的峰值电力需求可避免约15亿新西兰元的系统成本[1]。通过灵活调度数据中心的用电方式，可使其成为支持可再生能源的电网资产。绿党最近提议对新AI数据中心实施为期一年的暂停[1]。
New Zealand has approved Singaporean company Datagrid to construct a 280-megawatt artificial intelligence data centre near Invercargill, with an investment of NZ$3.5 billion and an expected opening in 2028 [1]. Once operational, the facility will become the country's second-largest electricity consumer, trailing only the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter [1]. The project is anticipated to more than double the nation's data processing capacity [1].
The scale of data centre electricity consumption presents both challenges and opportunities for New Zealand's grid. In comparison, Irish data centres accounted for nearly one-quarter of that country's metered electricity consumption last year [1]. To manage demand effectively, Datagrid has secured a power purchase agreement with Mercury covering 140 megawatts of its total 280-megawatt requirement [1]. The flexibility of data centre operations offers potential benefits for the electricity system: Transpower estimates that reducing peak demand by each gigawatt could avoid approximately NZ$1.5 billion in system costs [1]. By allowing data centres to adjust their power consumption in response to grid conditions, they can function as a stabilizing asset supporting renewable energy integration rather than simply imposing additional strain on the network. However, the project has faced political resistance, with the Green Party recently proposing a one-year moratorium on new artificial intelligence data centres [1].
