KUALA LUMPUR: AREA Real Estate Advisory Sdn Bhd has completed a feasibility study to assess the viability of the RM15 billion hyperscale green data centre park known as AREA Data Centre Campus (ADCC).
The planning for the development of the data centre park is timely given the growth and demand for cloud storage,
According to recent reports published by Meltwater and We Are Social digital research sites, digital data has seen cloud storage steadily expand globally.
More data has been stored in the cloud in the last five years than in the previous 25 years. This trend has increased at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12 per cent.
According to the reports, as the world becomes more connected through the use of devices for e-commerce and, more recently, the introduction of generative AI, more data is generated and more storage space is required, necessitating the need for new-generation hyperscale data centres.
AREA had signed a heads of agreement in January with Northern Gateway Sdn Bhd, the master developer of the Delapan SBEZ, paving the way for the company to acquire and develop the freehold industrial site involving 156 acres in the Delapan SBEZ exclusively for data centres.
Future plans for Delapan SBEZ include the commissioning of a solar farm to sell green energy to clients, enabling them to comply with their net-zero carbon targets.
“The ADCC is considered ideal for the building of a hyperscale data centre hub in view of its safe distance away from the nearest airport and railway station but still very well connected to the air, road, and rail transportation hubs via existing multiple road networks,” said Datuk Stewart LaBrooy, chairman of AREA.
The study looked at physical site suitability and infrastructure readiness, as well as legal and technical due diligence, location, and accessibility.
The site is currently powered by a power substation located 3 kilometres away, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is constructing a 132KV Transmission Main Intake (PMU) for the entire Delapan SBEZ site, with a 275KV PMU planned to follow.
It also has access to both the Satun-Songkhla cable landing stations (CLS) in southern Thailand and the northern CLS in Penang.
In addition, an Internet Exchange (IX) is being built and will be operational in the first quarter of 2025, which is critical for data centre (DC) network connectivity.
According to LaBrooy, the combination of 12 CLS, numerous telco points of presence (POPs), and the IX allows for excellent network availability, diversity, and density with low network latency.
He said the study also confirmed the site’s viability as having an ecosystem capable of supporting hyperscale data centre development and operations.
The ADCC’s fibre and network connectivity have a competitive advantage as a regional interconnect point from the West (India, the Middle East, and Europe), the East (Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan), and the North (Southeast Asia and China) to the South (Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia).
The site also has an abundant water supply of over 60 million litres per day to meet the needs of the DCs.
LaBrooy said the study concludes that these key infrastructure readiness factors, combined with tailored government incentives such as tax breaks, access to green energy, and flood-free and freehold land, make ADCC an ideal location for DC operators to establish their businesses and operations.
“The ADCC will offer a well-planned, green-certified, managed industrial park as a viable alternative for DC operators to locate their operations in Malaysia. It will also provide clients with access to the Thai and Malaysian markets with fibre connectivity to both East and West Asian clients,” he said.