Keppel to innovate with underground and high-rise data centres

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Keppel Data Centres Holding Pte Ltd (KDCH) is seeking to strengthen Singapore’s competitiveness as a data centre destination in the region with the signing of two Memoranda to explore using innovative spaces for data centres.

The first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between KDCH and JTC aims to explore the feasibility of deploying data centres underground to provide highly resilient and secure services to customers looking at high tiered data centres. Under the terms of the MOU, KDCH and JTC will set out to establish a concept and design specifications applicable for an underground data centre that can match performance standards of an equivalent aboveground data centre.

The second is a Memorandum of Intent (MOI), in which KDCH will collaborate with the Infocommunications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) and Huawei International (Huawei) to explore the feasibility of deploying a high-rise green data centre that features energy-efficient technologies. KDCH’s contribution to the collaboration will include the identification of possible data centre building sites as well as studies into the design, construction and operation of the facility.

The exploration of alternatives to conventional above-ground data centres will open up new possibilities for land scarce Singapore. According to BroadGroup research, Singapore is home to 50% of data centre capacity in Southeast Asia. It predicts new demand for data centre space to continue growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 23.6% between 2014 and 2021, fuelled by increasing cloud computing and data storage requirements.

Insights yielded from the feasibility studies on underground and high-rise data centres are expected to contribute to Singapore’s attractiveness among data centre customers with varying requirements. Subterranean data centre facilities present a more secure location for customers with mission-critical equipment while high-rise data centres address space constraints and land use restrictions faced by conventional data centre facilities.

Mr Wong Wai Meng, CEO of Keppel Data Centres said, “As a leading data centre developer and operator in the region, Keppel Data Centres understands and is able to cater to every customer’s unique requirement. We look forward to potentially exploring new ideas with the collaborations, such as improving energy efficiency and technical space layout. With the concerted efforts of our partners, we are proud to support Singapore’s Smart Nation vision.”

Ms Khoo Wee Lin, Director of InfoComms Media and Start-Up Cluster, JTC said, “Data Centres form part of the global connectivity infrastructure and are an important component within the digital economy. JTC recognises the need to constantly create new value to our customers, including innovative solutions such as underground facilities. Our partnership with Keppel Data Centres Holding Pte Ltd is a step forward towards such creative space solutions in hosting underground data centres. We welcome more industry partnerships to explore, develop and implement such solutions.”

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