American company Aventuur has received approval for a project to build a data center-heated surf park in New Zealand. According to Bloomberg, the new park will provide surfers with access to warm waves all year round.
The Environmental Protection Agency has given consent for the park to be built in Auckland. In addition to a water sports lagoon and a data centre operated by Spark New Zealand, there will also be a solar power plant to power the data centre itself and other infrastructure. The permit was issued to New Zealand company AW Holdings 2021, 68% owned by Aventuur and 25% by local developer Mark Francis.
Image source: Aventuur
The project is estimated to cost NZ$374 million ($229 million) to build and develop, with a total economic impact to Auckland of NZ$630 million ($384 million) over six years. Founded in 2019, Aventuur aims to build similar waterparks around the world. The company has already been selected to build a surf park in Perth. The company also has exclusive rights to implement a number of technologies in North America and Singapore.
The Auckland project will be implemented on a 43-hectare site north of the city, where a coaching center, visitor infrastructure and other facilities will also be located. A 7-hectare solar power plant will be responsible for powering adjacent facilities, including the data center itself, which is planned to be built in several stages until it reaches a capacity of 40 MW.