Only a handful of residents in the area near the proposed data centre off Fruitgrowers Rd, Earnscleugh, were able to make submissions on the application as it was limited notified to nearby landowners.
All three submissions to be considered by independent commissioner Bob Nixon at a hearing on February 18 are opposed to the application.
Matters raised included noise and effects on the amenity of the Clyde township generally.
The potential uses for the data centre were also matters of concern noted in submissions.
The application lodged by Contact Energy is for a two-lot subdivision on Fruitgrowers Rd, land use consent for construction of a data centre and associated facilities.
The agenda states Mr Nixon’s consideration of the application, his deliberations and subsequent decision are to be considered with public excluded.
The Otago Daily Times reported in September the proposed 10MW data centre would collectively feature eight containerised data centres — each holding 368 servers.
While the application was lodged by Contact, the data centre would be owned and operated by UK-based digital infrastructure start-up Lake Parime on about 0.65ha of land owned by the power company under a lease agreement.
The application states data centre operators look for secure renewable energy sources to power computers designed to process large volumes of data in response to emerging markets such as machine learning, data modelling and cryptocurrency mining.
The proposed data centre would operate on "flexible demand", meaning processing could be managed to reduce demand during periods of low river flows, optimised during periods of low electricity demand or when the Clyde Dam would otherwise spill water — when Lake Dunstan was at capacity.
The application also includes provision for a 3.5m high noise mitigation wall along the eastern and southern boundaries of the site.
The proposed development of a substation by lines company Aurora within the application site is linked to the development.
Lake Parime states it operates data centres in the UK, Canada, and US.
