Data Centres

Singtel closing 5 data centres in the name of sustainability

According to Nxera in its Sustainability Summary Report.

Paul Mah

Paul Mah

— 2 min read
Singtel closing 5 data centres in the name of sustainability
Photo Credit: Singtel

Singtel is shutting down five older data centres in Singapore for the sake of sustainability.

In February, I wrote that Singtel will shut off its five oldest data centres in Singapore. This insight was shared with the Business Times but not picked up elsewhere.

If you don't know yet, Singtel last year announced a joint venture with KKR and has since rebranded the resulting data centre unit as "Nxera".

Out with the old

I did some digging at that time, and identified the 5 data centres:

  • Kim Chuan Data Centre 1.
  • NCS Hub (AMK).
  • Comcentre 3.
  • Telepark DC.
  • NCS Bedok.

While it looks like a lot, these data centres add but a handful of MWs. According to insiders, Comcentre 3 is "just a handful of racks".

I noted how Kim Chuan Data Centre 2 (Will remain) and DC West together offer around 63MW of capacity. And the upcoming DC Tuas will offer 58MW by itself.

In the name of sustainability

Last week, a LinkedIn post about the Nxera Sustainability Summary Report revealed the reasons for the closure of these 5 data centres.

In a section about Nxera's sustainability approach, it said:

"We are phasing out our five older data centres and consolidating the IT power allocation into our next-generation DC Tuas."

"We are committed to designing, building and operating sustainable data centres... our next-generation data centres [will] lead the way in sustainability... in energy, carbon, waste management and water stewardship."

There you have it. Nxera didn't think those older data centres were sufficiently resource efficient to keep.

Running the next lap

Over the National Day last week, I wrote about how Singapore is among the densest data centre markets globally in terms of GDP.

But as Singapore confronts the challenge of its carbon emissions ahead of other markets, how should it run the next lap?

I wrote last week that Singapore needs to focus on what it has, applying ruthless pragmatism and adept execution to draw ahead.

  • A mature data centre landscape.
  • An expected SEZ with Johor.
  • Focus on sustainability.

Do you think Singapore can redraw the boundaries of what's possible with data centres?

Know of practical solutions or technologies for sustainable data centres? Ping me.

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