Borneo’s carbon neutral town of Kota Samarahan has been chosen for the location of the island’s first major data center, spearheaded by a Sarawak-Singapore consortium involving Sarawak-based TSG Group and Singapore-based Cyclect Group.
The 200MW carbon neutral data center is expected to utilize energy-efficient technologies. The green data center is reportedly constructed on a built-to-suit model, meaning the facility’s tenant is the sole occupant.
During the launching ceremony, TSG Group CEO Datuk Chris Chung said:
“The time has come for us to further explore the potential for Sarawak by tapping into the positive outlook of the domestic data center industry and the rising demand for cloud services in the region.”
Building green data centers sourcing from renewable energy is gaining momentum on rising demand to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from data centers. Current estimates place data centers for consuming nearly 3% of the world’s total electricity, with nearly a majority of the energy used in data centers related to cooling.
The global market for liquid cooling is projected to reach US$ 30.61 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 27.22% from 2023. In particular, reports project a yearly 30% or more market growth for the liquid immersion and direct-to-chip cooling technologies between 2023 and 2028.
Liquid immersion cooling involves placing tech equipment in a dielectric solution to reduce heat. Meanwhile, direct-to-chip cooling involves mounting a cold plate with coolant fluid directly on top of GPUs and chipsets, with a thermal interface material applied in between.
Up until now, the most widely adopted cooling method involve air cooling which relies on air conditioning or fans to blow air to dissipate heat.
