To stay ahead, Singapore might need to move faster

Singapore is a data centre powerhouse with a grand plan to balance sustainability, innovation, and its role as a hub. To succeed, it may need to move less cautiously.

This UnfilteredFriday, I want to talk about Singapore, a key data centre hub that is reinventing itself. It may need to move faster.

Data centre hub

A mature data centre hub, Singapore is also one of the densest data centre hubs globally - whether by GDP, land area, or population.

Singapore has a strategy to master sustainable data centres. Eventually, it wants to use that know-how to help others do the same.

First, it had to scale down its data centre ambitions starting from 2019. Some key developments:

• 2019: An initial 3-year moratorium.
• 2022: Controlled data centre growth*.
• 2024: Green Data Centre Roadmap.

*Release of 80MW for pilot DC-CFA.

A masterplan for sustainability

Last year, Singapore released the Green Data Centre Roadmap, which outlines a plan to address multiple intractable problems inherent to data centres.

It was announced alongside a new 300MW of data centre capacity, with another 200MW for operators using green energy - the carrot.

The idea is to spur innovation in data centres through policies, accreditation programmes, and incentive schemes across multiple government agencies.

As I wrote last year:

"[The Roadmap] seeks a reinvigorated approach by building an ecosystem biased towards incorporating efficiency across the entire digital stack... and reshape how new data centres are designed and built."

(Read: go.techstories.co/vX69)

Where are the data centres?

But is progress happening too slowly?

• To my knowledge, none of the DC-CFA data centres from 2022 are operational and won't be for another year at minimum.
• There has been no public date set yet for the next iteration of the DC-CFA or other mechanisms to allocate more data centre capacity.

In the meantime, data centre growth has exploded across regional cities and nations.

• Johor.
• Batam.
• Thailand.

Does Singapore risk being left behind?

Moving faster

To be clear, I don't equate capacity with advancement. And it doesn't make sense for Singapore to become a hub for AI training.

But beyond a handful of data centres (Singtel's DC Tuas, Keppel's SGP 7), there has been no new data centres since 2019.

This is exacerbated by the global rush towards AI, which is sucking air out of the room for climate financing and green innovation.

For now, the lack of capacity could well be turning opportunities away. In chasing perfection, is Singapore holding back its potential to lead with both climate responsibility and competitive speed?