Datagrid New Zealand has contracted international marine survey company EGS to study the proposed 2,700km Te Waipounamu submarine cable connecting Invercargill to Sydney and Melbourne.
Datagrid is developing a 43Ha sustainable data center park in Makarewa, and the company is committed to providing direct connectivity to Australia with the construction of the first international submarine cable for New Zealand’s South Island.
“The Te Waipounamu submarine cable will be strategic infrastructure that will provide much faster Internet to the South Island of New Zealand. It will be a game changer for the digital development of cities such as Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, Nelson and obviously Invercargill. Our cable will land on Oreti Beach and Invercargill will become a new regional digital hub” said Perrine Dhalluin, CEO of Datagrid. “This new cable will also provide increased resiliency for New Zealand providing backup to existing North Island cables. We are delighted to work with EGS for the initial desktop study, a company with an impressive track record for enabling the development of new subsea cables”.
With 48 years of geophysical surveying experience, EGS provides global specialist multi-disciplinary marine survey reports, and delivers solutions to the Telecommunications, Renewables, Oil and Gas, Charting and Marine Infrastructure sectors.
EGS General Manager for Australia – Anthony Pyne declared: “we are proud to have been selected by Datagrid through a competitive process, and it is a real pleasure to work again with Remi Galasso and Georges Krebs, both leaders in the subsea cable industry”.
“A cable route desktop study (DTS) is a key part of the initial phase of a subsea cable project. EGS will study the shortest and most secure route to cross the Tasman Sea. The Te Waipounamu submarine cable will cross the Tasman on a new route never used before to provide maximum diversity. We are confident that this route is practical, and we will study it in detail together with EGS experts to ensure maximum reliability. We will also study an optional branch to Hobart, as it could be a good opportunity to connect Tasmania with a very diverse and internationally connected cable” added Georges Krebs, Chief Technical Officer at Datagrid.
