Singapore to be more 'selective' of new data centres amid climate change: IMDA, EDB
SINGAPORE will be more selective of new data centres, and introduce fresh measures to raise the efficiency of existing players as it seeks to align the growth of data centres with climate change ambitions.
While data centres are important enablers that support Singapore's digitalisation and the growth of the digital economy, they are intensive users of resources, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Economic Development Board (EDB) jointly told The Business Times (BT) on Sunday (Jan 30).
"There is a need to find a way to manage the growth of DCs (data centres) in a sustainable manner consistent with our climate change commitments," the spokesperson said in response to queries.
In particular, Singapore will look to anchor data centres that are "best in class in terms of resource efficiency", which can contribute towards national economic and strategic objectives.
IMDA and EDB told BT that they had, on Jan 27, invited data centre industry players for a discussion about a Call for Application exercise to facilitate new data centre capacity in Singapore.
The agencies are seeking feedback on the proposed criteria presented during the discussion, with more details to be announced in the coming months.
The Republic is set to lift its data centre moratorium - in place since 2019 - in the second quarter of 2022.
A source earlier told BT that 3 applications will be approved during the pilot phase for data centre capacities of 10-30 MW.
Additionally, new data centres will need to have a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3 and below.
PUE refers to the amount of power consumed by a data centre, divided by the amount of power used to operate the IT equipment in the centre. A lower value represents higher efficiency.
