Hanoi (VNA) - Singapore is planning to expand its data centre capacity by more than one-third while exploring more environmentally friendly facilities to achieve sustainable growth for this energy-intensive industry.
Under a new roadmap announced by the Singaporean Government on May 30, the city-state will build more facilities, aiming for a balance between the growth of the digital industry and efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Communications and Information, said Singapore plans to retain its position as a locomotive of the region and the world in terms of data centre.
He said the Southeast Asian country aims to allocate at least 300MW of additional capacity in the near future, with another 200MW from green energy sources. The 500MW increase is equivalent to about 35% of its current total capacity of more than 1.4GW.
Singapore is home to more than 70 data centres, making it one of the biggest hubs in the world. However, it recently restricted the construction of new centres due to environmental concerns related to heavy energy and water use, pushing some operators to build in neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.
To ensure the construction of environmentally friendly data centres, the Singaporean Government will prioritise licensing the projects that build energy-saving facilities with some advanced cooling solutions and equipment, as well as proposals including partnerships with low-carbon energy suppliers, the official said./.
