PDG launches first phase of 96MW TY1 data centre campus

PDG this week announced the Phase 1 launch of its 96MW, US$1 billion TY1 data centre campus located in Saitama City, Japan.

The data centre campus is a multi-storey facility capable of supporting the top AI workloads today.

TY1 data centre campus

The press release was brief, but here's what I gathered by putting together previous releases and the official factsheet about TY1.

This launch is for Phase 1 of TY1; Phase 2 is presumably under construction:

• Phase 1: Six-storey facility with 48MW IT capacity.
• Phase 2: Second building for 96MW total capacity.

Details about TY1:

• PUE of <1.34.
• Supports liquid cooling.
• Diverse 66kW power feeds.
• Enough on-site fuel for 48 hours.
• 3 points of entry for telecommunications.
• Office space available.

Based on reports last year, TY1 was originally scheduled for RFS by Q4 2024, so there's a slight delay here.

Getting crowded

TY1 is built in Saitama City, just 35 kilometres from central Tokyo. PDG says Saitama is well positioned due to the availability of power and land, and has strong connectivity to existing data centre clusters

Tokyo is a top data centre market in Asia. However, building new data centres there is difficult.

Operators face challenges such as:

• Severe power constraints; lead times of > 4 years.
• Need to construct disaster-resistant buildings.
• Rising construction costs*, labour shortages.
• Need to engage local general contractors.
• Strict labour laws and limited overtime.

And this is a shortened list.

AI Diffusion framework

In January, the US unveiled an AI Diffusion Framework that carves out the world into three zones for access to the latest GPUs needed for AI workloads.

The only countries with unfettered access are the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, and yes, Japan.

This makes Japan particularly interesting, especially given its existing status as a global data centre hub.

To be clear, the Trump administration has so far not offered even the slightest hint if it will go ahead with the AI Diffusion framework.

PS: PDG last year announced that it will invest US$5 billion to expand its data centre portfolio by nearly 50%, with a heavy focus on AI-ready data centres in Asia.