Lithium-ion battery fire shakes up data centre industry
Of Johor and lithium-ion batteries in data centres.
Had a wonderful time catching up with executives and top leaders from the data centre industry today.
Spent the evening at the W.Media's gathering earlier today, which was held at Suntec overlooking the tracks for today's F1 qualifying race.
Caught up with many old friends, connected with new ones, and met in person with many who had previously engaged online.
It was also a chance to learn about new data centre developments.
What's happening in Johor?
The per-kilowatt data centre price in Johor is currently the lowest within the SIJORI region, which is made up of Singapore, Johor, and the Batam.
Nobody I spoke to ever disputes that a bubble is forming, and the pricing appears to indicate that demand is somewhat less robust than supply.
To be clear, analysts do tell me that the more than 1GW of data centre capacity in Johor is being taken up so far.
One other issue raised is the extremely aggressive build timings in Johor. Is the pace sustainable and can manufacturing capacity keep up? Also, are corners cut or are shortcuts taken?
What about lithium-ion batteries?
Should lithium-ion batteries still be used in data centres? The data centre fire at Digital Realty's SIN11 has left a strong impact on the data centre industry here.
Some seem to think lithium-ion batteries should not be used in data centres at all. Others think it's simply a matter of implementing the right solutions to adequately mitigate the risks.
Regardless, the following is happening right now:
- There are a lot more questions being raised about the kind of batteries used in data centre UPS systems, including the specific lithium-ion types.
- I also heard of some - I couldn't verify it - data centres using the excuse of routine replacement to swap out their lithium-ion batteries for alternatives.
My observation: Singapore has a top-notch firefighting force, Digital Realty has very strict fire regulations (according to customers), and employees were trained and decisive (based on the timeline).
Question: How would a less competent operator at a remote location fare when faced with a lithium-ion battery fire?
