Data centre demand projected to reach 7.7GW by 2030
Five times that of Singapore's 1.4GW of data centres today.
Electricity demand for data centres in Malaysia is projected to reach 7.7GW in 2030, or five times of Singapore's 1.4GW of data centres today.
According to The Edge Malaysia, Malaysia's Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation sees electricity demand for data centres reaching:
- 7.7GW by 2030
- 20.9GW by 2040.
This was divulged by Deputy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir earlier today.
What does it mean?
With 1.4GW of data centres, Singapore is currently a top data centre hub. These were built over a decade, though, which makes Malaysia's growth all the more incredible.
In Singapore, a lack of renewables meant it had to dramatically tone down its ambitions, first with a moratorium, then with a deliberate growth strategy.
In May this year, however, IMDA announced the Green Data Centre Roadmap, which outlined a plan for sustainable growth - and a 300MW carrot for new data centres.
A new era of data centres
The era of AI has completely changed the face of data centres. Modern data centres are far larger than those built just 3 to 5 years ago.
Many of the new data centres in Malaysia are built in Johor, which had experienced a meteoric rise in data centres.
From just 10MW of data centres at the start of 2021, Johor's data centre capacity has surged to over 1,500MW this year.
This includes data centres that are:
- Operational.
- Under construction.
- Ready to begin construction.
- In the early stages of planning.
However, when I look at its charts compared to other APAC markets, the growth trajectory remains astounding.
And as I just wrote yesterday, NTT Data is planning a massive 290MW data centre campus.
Show me the power
According to Akmal Nasrullah, Malaysia will do the following to cope with the power requirements of data centres:
- Develop new fossil power plants.
- Power plants to extend operating period.
- Accelerate development of renewable energy.
Malaysia relies heavily on fossil fuels, with coal being the primary source, though it does have ample access to renewables.
- It plans to increase its renewable electricity share to 37.81% by 2030, and 70% by 2050.
- However, what is not known is the impact of so many data centres in Malaysia on its net zero plans.
