DATA CENTRE ESSENTIALS
ARBITRATING DATA CENTRE DISPUTES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: THE RISE OF SIAC As Southeast Asia accelerates data centre development, Charles Russell Speechlys’ Henry Winter (Partner, Singapore) and Abdul Azeem (Legal Director, Dubai) explore where construction, reliability, and ESG disputes are emerging, and what operators can do to protect value in a fast-moving market. The AI boom is transforming Southeast Asia’s digital economy – and it is doing so at speed. Live capacity in ASEAN is forecast to reach roughly 30GW within the next two to three years, led by surging demand in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. Governments are pushing hard on digital transformation and energy efficiency, while operators and investors race to deploy capital. The result is an unprecedented build-out of data centre infrastructure across the region. With this growth comes friction. Data centres are among the most complex, capital-intensive assets to deliver and operate. Projects involve cross-border stakeholders and sensitive technology under compressed timelines, strained supply chains, and rapidly shifting regulations. Power-hungry data centres used to train
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and run AI models may test the green energy transition, as energy demand sharply rises and the development of new renewable energy projects to power new initiatives struggles to keep pace. These dynamics create fertile ground for disputes that demand swift resolution, technical sophistication, and confidentiality. For many market participants, arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) has become the dispute resolution forum of choice.
WHERE WE SEE DISPUTES EMERGING Disputes are no longer confined to conventional construction claims; they increasingly sit at the intersection of engineering performance, operational resilience, and ESG commitments, with direct revenue and reputational consequences.
dcnnmagazine.com