Data Centre Magazine - February 2022 Edition

Singapore’s back!... sort of.

After almost three years of pressing pause on new data centre developments, Singapore’s data centre industry is back in business - albeit with a few caveats in place designed to lessen the sector’s environmental impact.

 Singapore’s position as Southeast Asia’s leading data centre market has slipped over the past few years, thanks to a moratorium on new site construction imposed by the government. In 2019, the Singaporean authorities froze all new builds, due to concerns over the sustainability of prolonged and rapid growth. 

Now, after almost three years, the moratorium has been lifted - at least provisionally. According to a statement by the country’s Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong in January, data centre operators will be able to resume construction. However, the Singaporean Government will be “more selective” when granting planning permission for new projects.

As of the end of 2021, Singapore was home to around 70 data centres with a combined capacity of just over 1 GW. In the year to come, we could expect to see those figures increase precipitously - depending on exactly how “selective” the Singaporean government plans on being, of course. 

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