What's next for data centres in Johor?
From 10MW to over 1,000MW in two years.
You've read about the incredible data centre growth in Johor, from 10MW to over 1,000MW in two years. What can we expect next?
The phenomenal data centre growth in Johor looks to be a once-a-generation opportunity and has sent the Malaysian government into overdrive.
I've written much about Johor's data centre growth over the months. Where will it lead?
Opportunities beckon
- Data centre supply chain: Malaysia is working to grow the data centre supply chain ecosystem, from semiconductors, and manufacturing of data centre equipment, to cloud hyperscalers.
- Growing renewable energy: Data centre investors are requesting renewable energy. This demand opens the door to leverage data centre growth for the renewables transition.
- A regional Internet exchange: As more data gets served from Johor, this represents an exceptional opportunity to build a thriving Internet exchange centred around Malaysia.
Challenges included
Make no mistake, the sheer capacity of data centres poses significant challenges.
Right now, various government agencies and associations are rushing to craft new regulations and guidelines to address unchecked growth before it becomes a problem.
- Use of water, power for data centres.
- Sustainability guidelines for data centres.
- The criteria for approving new data centres.
And from what I'm hearing, these will come sooner than most expect.
What next?
For now, Malaysia wants to grow into an AI and cloud hub.
Indeed, top cloud players are already operating or are frantically constructing their cloud regions.
- AWS went live this year.
- Microsoft Azure should launch soon.
- Google Cloud just had its groundbreaking.
- Oracle has announced its Cloud region in Malaysia.
What are your thoughts about the Johor data centre hub? Would love to know your perspective.
