The Business Times
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Data centre race: Singapore betting on quality over scale, say observers

The city-state is pursuing a ‘sustainable’ data centre strategy – but what stands in the way of its ambitions?

Summarise
Shikhar Gupta
Therese Soh

Shikhar Gupta &

Therese Soh

Published Fri, Dec 26, 2025 · 02:41 PM
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    • Singapore will be a significant player in the data centre race, albeit in the context of sustainability rather than pure capacity, says Turner & Townsend director Alex Quek.
    • Singapore will be a significant player in the data centre race, albeit in the context of sustainability rather than pure capacity, says Turner & Townsend director Alex Quek. PHOTO: REUTERS

    [SINGAPORE] As South-east Asia and the world bet on artificial intelligence (AI), data centres have become one of the hottest investments.

    A November report from Fortune Business Insights estimated the global data centre market size at about US$243 billion in 2024, with projected growth to reach about US$270 billion in 2025. Much of this growth is expected to be driven by AI.

    Meanwhile, data centre investments could hit US$7 trillion by 2030, with more than half dedicated to computing hardware, according to McKinsey and Company. About 60 per cent of that will be spent outside the US.

    Data centresOutlook 2026Energy transition

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