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SINGAPORE — Singapore is pushing for green data centers because the explosive demand for artificial intelligence puts a strain on energy resources.
Town-state launched a green data center roadmap on Thursday to support its ambitions for the digital economy as demand for AI and computing grows.
“Because the demand for digital and AI compute continues to rise, the necessity for data center capability will grow,” Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary said on Thursday.
The roadmap goals to supply no less than 300 megawatts of additional capability within the near term, with more through “green energy deployments.”
Plans to supply additional data center capability include raising energy efficiency of all data centers in Singapore, deploying energy-efficient IT equipment in addition to offering incentives or grants for resource efficiency.
“Data centers here also tap on Singapore’s broader international position as a business and digital hub,” Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority said in a press release. IMDA promotes and regulates Singapore’s communication and media sectors.
“As demand for AI has grown, so too has demand for energy. This has created strains on national energy networks, which must be managed within the short term,” Tony Blair Institute for Global Change said in a report on Wednesday.
The AI boom has boosted demand for data centers which house large amounts of information required to coach and deploy AI models, making them extremely energy intensive.
While firms like Microsoft and Google are investing heavily to extend the use of fresh energy, governments have to proceed to create the incentives for firms to achieve this, said the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
Data centers are the “biggest indirect carbon emitter” of the data and communications sector, said Puthucheary. “They contribute to 82% of Singapore’s ICT sector emissions, and account for 7% of Singapore’s total electricity consumption.”
Singapore is the second-largest data center market in Southeast Asia and the sixth-largest in Asia-Pacific, based on data from global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.
Singapore houses greater than 70 cloud, enterprise, and co-location data centers, which is in a position to host cloud platforms, digital services, and higher-intensity workloads for AI, based on IMDA.
As the worldwide data center market hits recent highs in 2023, power limitations have “pushed data center operators to further evaluate untapped and smaller markets worldwide,” said Cushman & Wakefield.
