Cloud & Datacenters Magazine vol. #11 | Data Center Design Gets Adaptive

ISSUE 11

The Race to 600kW What it takes to run 600kW racks

Malaysia: Powering data centers at scale

Data centers prepare for high density racks

Special Awards Supplement

Building sustainable digital infrastructure

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Contents XX

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From the Editor’s Desk

6

Noteworthy News

50 In Closing Will everyone really go 600kW?

COVER STORY 12

Inside the gigawatt AI revolution

14 What it takes to run 600kW racks 16

Malaysia: Powering data centres at scale

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Power rumble: Can US and EU data centers punch above their weight?

FEATURES

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41 Can Malaysia sustain its data center surge?

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42 Redefining the data center for the era of GPU-driven AI 46 A gathering of ‘beautiful minds’

HIGHLIGHTS 22 Building Sustainable Digital Infrastructure for India’s High-Density AI Future

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44 Mumbai CDC and South Asia Awards 2025: Showcasing and honouring India’s top digital infrastructure professionals!

SPECIAL AWARDS SUPPLEMENT

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30 Future-proofing through flexible data centres 32 Latest advancements in containment for data centers 34 How AI is Reshaping APAC Data Centers 36 Why DongFong Technology takes an integrated approach to AI deployments

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

From the Editor’s Desk In a technological ecosystem where even the word “hyperscale” is falling short of describing the giga-projects and AI factories being planned across the world, is it any wonder that we are now talking about a 600 kW rack?

J

ust when you thought that the digital transformation party couldn’t get any more exciting, AI strolled in like an unexpected but charismatic guest. Now you can’t get enough of them! AI enables ease and elegance of operations. It empowers you to do more, and it’s invigorating, in a way that makes you wonder - how did you get so far without it? And more importantly, can you move forward without it?

So now, you are working hard to make sure you can make it stay by catering to all its special demands, no matter how extra they sound! You keep pouring into this power guzzler’s cup so it never runs out of energy. You also ply it with the Liquid Cooling it craves so much to keep temperatures in check.

And then it strikes you… there’s more to this charismatic guest than just power and cooling needs.

We are increasingly deploying AI to go higher, further, faster! Therefore, we must also focus on creating an infrastructure ecosystem that can cater to increasing demand for compute

power. By some estimates, we could go from the current 6-8 kW rack to at least a 200 kW rack in less than five years. More ambitious players are now re-imaging digital infrastructure comprising 600 kW racks!

As we take our first steps towards this exciting future, our first issue of 2026 delves into the myriad challenges in this journey, and also takes a hard, sobering look at ground realities that could cause us to stumble and fall in this race.

Also in this issue, we have a special supplement showcasing the winners from our 2025 Awards across the world.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue, as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Deborah Grey Editor-in-Chief w.media

Meet the team Paul Mah

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Deborah Grey

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Jan Young

Hazel Moises

Conor McNevin

SEA Editor

Senior Conference Producer

Correspondent, Europe & Americas

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NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Singapore opens up 200MW for new data centers

Marina Bay, Singapore

Singapore has made available at least 200MW of capacity in its just launched second Data Centre – Call for Application (“DC-CFA2”) with more capacity possible through the adoption of new and innovative green energy pathways.

The staggered release is part of continued efforts to facilitate the sustainable growth of data centres in Singapore while the DC-CFA is the primary mechanism for data center capacity allocation.

According to the Singapore

Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), applications will be assessed holistically based on their strategic value to Singapore’s digital economy, broader economic contributions, and commitment to

Johor stops approving certain data centers due to ‘water overuse’ Johor will stop approving Tier 1 and 2 data centres, claiming they use too much water which is 200 times more than Tier 3 and Tier 4 centres, according to reports. Johor State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor had reportedly said the decision was part of new requirements governing data centre development in the state.

The new rules represent the toughest stance yet by a state agency towards data centers in Malaysia. The state has categorised Tier 1 and Tier 2 data centres as high water users, allegedly consuming 200 times more water than Tier 3 and Tier 4 data

centres, which typically use 200,000 litres a day.

Johor Data Centre Development Coordinating Committee will be handling new approvals focusing on six key areas, namely water and electricity usage, environmental impact, Water and Power Usage Effectiveness, the availability of fibre-optic infrastructure, cooling technologies, and alternative water sources. It will also review green criteria such as green technology initiatives, carbon reduction and compliance with the Green Building Index.

New applications would go through five levels of vetting under PlanMalaysia, covering screening, technical committee evaluation, a full state coordinating committee meeting, a state planning committee session, and final approval by the relevant local council. Investors are encouraged to go

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sustainability.

Key criteria should include how the potential investor proposes to strengthen Singapore’s value proposition as a trusted hub for technology innovation. The applicant would also have to show the fixed asset investments and total business expenditure for the data center, and propose other activities that could drive the growth of Singapore’s digital economy, such as research and development, product innovation, and talent development initiatives.

The applicant should provide proposals on how it intends to run the most efficient data center that is best in class and is required to obtain the BCAIMDA Green Mark for Data Centres 2024 Platinum certification for its proposed DC. Other efficiency standards include achieving a Power Usage Effectiveness1 (PUE) of 1.25 (at 100% IT load) and the use of equipment that exceeds efficiency standards as set out in the Singapore Standard on Energy Efficiency of Data Centre IT Equipment (SS 715:2025).

The applicant’s data center should be at least 50 per cent powered by eligible green energy pathways such as biomethane, low-carbon ammonia, lowcarbon hydrogen, novel fuel cells with carbon capture and storage technology, or vertical building-integrated photovoltaics/building-applied photovoltaics.

for Tier 3 and Tier 4 facilities which will only be allowed in designated industrial zones. Approval will largely depend on high compute, low impact criteria.

Data centers must use reclaimed water supplies from Syarikat Air Johor and ensure that the facilities are located away from housing estates and commercial areas. Several Johor campuses have already begun using reclaimed water for cooling through reverse-osmosis systems modelled after Singapore’s NEWater, in collaboration with Johor Special Water and Indah Water Konsortium.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

HUMAIN, DataVolt to build multi-GW AI data centers in Saudi Arabia

HUMAIN Datavolt-announcement

Public Investment Fund (PIF) company HUMAIN, which specializes in full-stack artificial intelligence solutions, and large-scale data center infrastructure developer DataVolt, have announced a partnership to jointly develop multi-gigawatt data centers to power Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads in advancing AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

Both companies emphasized that sustainability and performance will be central to their projects, leveraging innovations in energy efficiency, cooling systems, and integrated design to reduce environmental impact while meeting escalating global compute demand.

Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, said,

Google to invest US$15 billion into Indian AI hub Google has announced its largest investment in India to date, totaling approximately US$ 15 billion over the next five years (2026-2030).

This capital will establish Google’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in the country, located in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh.

Google’s AI hub investment includes construction of a new international subsea gateway, including multiple international subsea cables to land in Visakhapatnam on India’s eastern coast — connecting to Google’s more than two million miles of existing terrestrial and subsea cables. This will establish Visakhapatnam as an AI and connectivity hub that not only serves India but the rest of the world.

In an official blog, Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud revealed that the AI hub will include a purposebuilt data center campus capable of gigawatt-scale compute capacity. He also acknowledged that the project aligns directly with the Government of India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, and that this infrastructure could play a role in “anchoring the next phase of the U.S.–India tech cooperation, particularly as both nations prioritize the secure, responsible development of AI.”

He wrote, “It is critical that businesses, developers, and researchers have access to the highestperformance, lowest-latency services.

Working with partners, AdaniConnex and Airtel, this hub will deliver the kind of reliable, advanced infrastructure necessary for large enterprises and innovative Indian startups alike to build and scale their own AI-powered solutions, and ultimately help India secure its place as a global leader in the AI-driven future,” adding, “By bringing multiple international subsea cables to land in Visakhapatnam, we are creating an essential connectivity

“By combining HUMAIN’s end-to-end AI expertise with DataVolt’s sustainable infrastructure capabilities, we’re building the foundation for a new era of intelligent computing at a lower cost of compute.”

HUMAIN’s expertise in AI ecosystems and its role in attracting global compute partners to the Kingdom combined with DataVolt’s experience in designing and operating complex, sustainable data centers will deliver scalable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective computing infrastructure.

The initiative aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader vision to position itself as a global hub for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and digital innovation.

hub on India’s eastern coast. This new pathway will complement existing landings in Mumbai and Chennai, providing necessary route diversity and increasing the resilience of India’s digital backbone.”

Google also reiterated its commitment to clean energy and energy efficiency, saying that as they expand, they will be working with partners to deliver new transmission lines, clean energy generation, and energy storage systems in Andhra Pradesh, expanding the diverse portfolio of clean energy that contributes to India’s electricity grid.

The AI hub will also deliver the highperformance and low-latency services that businesses and organizations need to build and scale their own AI-powered solutions, accelerate research and development, and ultimately help India secure its place as a global leader in the AI-driven future. When operational, the new data center campus will join Google’s network of existing AI data centers that spans 12 countries.

Google Vizag AI Hub announcement

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NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Microsoft to invest US$15.2 billion in the UAE

Microsoft and G42

Global tech giant Microsoft has announced that it will invest US$15.2 billion in the UAE by 2029, as part of its AI initiative that began in 2023.

Microsoft already has a signif icant presence in the Middle Eastern nation, mainly through its partnership with G42, the UAE’s sovereign AI company.

Revealing its investments so far, and future plans in an off icial blog, Microsoft said that beginning in 2023 and through the end of this calendar year, Microsoft will have invested and spent just over US$ 7.3 billion in the UAE. “This includes our US$ 1.5 billion equity investment in G42, more than US$ 4.6 billion in capital expenses in advanced AI and cloud datacenters in the country, and more than US$ 1.2 billion in local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold,” said the company.

Peng Xiao, Group CEO, G42 said, “Our partnership with Microsoft is not only about aspiration, it’s about execution and impact. Together, we are deploying world-class digital inf rastructure, advancing the f rontiers of AI across industries, and establishing a new standard for cross-

border collaboration rooted in trust.

This is how we build enduring value, not just for the UAE, but for a more interconnected and intelligent world.”

Microsoft also touched upon how it has been able to secure export licenses f rom the US Commerce Department to ship GPUs to the UAE. “These licenses enable us to ship the equivalent of 60,400 additional A100 chips, in this instance involving Nvidia’s even more advanced GB300 GPUs,” said Microsoft, adding, “We’re using these GPUs to provide access to advanced AI models f rom OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source providers, and Microsoft itself.”

The company further said that f rom the start of 2026 to the end of 2029, it will spend more than US$ 7.9 billion in the UAE. This includes more than US$ 5.5 billion in capital expenses for ongoing and planned expansion of its AI and cloud inf rastructure, and almost US$ 2.4 billion in planned local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold.

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OpenAI, Oracle and Vantage Data Centers announce 1GW Stargate data center in Wisconsin OpenAI, Oracle and Vantage Data Centers, have announced plans to develop a data center campus outside Milwaukee in Port Washington, Wisconsin, featuring four data centers providing close to one gigawatt of AI capacity.

The new campus is part of OpenAI and Oracle’s previously announced partnership to invest up to 4.5 GW of additional Stargate capacity, and is the Midwest site that was recently announced as part of OpenAI’s Stargate expansion. Construction will begin soon, and is scheduled for completion in 2028.

Expanding Stargate to Wisconsin is another major step toward building the infrastructure that will help ensure everyone can benefit from AI,” said Peter Hoeschele, OpenAI’s vice president of industrial compute. “This project will create good jobs, advance zero-emission energy and boost the local economy—all while expanding capacity without raising rates for local consumers.”

In a press release, Vantage Data Centers, a global provider of hyperscale data center campuses revealed that the project, named Lighthouse, would be powered at least partly with renewable energy, and aims to be water positive. Vantage is also pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for the Lighthouse campus, underscoring the company’s global commitment to sustainable building practices.

Vantage further said that it is investing a minimum of US$ 175 million to make critical regional infrastructure upgrades, including expanded capacity for water and wastewater treatment facilities, upgraded water mains and sewer lines, a new water tower and power infrastructure that will not only benefit the Lighthouse campus but also the needs of Port Washington.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Firmus partners CDC on Southgate to scale to 1.6 GW

Lighthouse Rendering Vantage Data Centers

Firmus Technologies has announced a strategic alliance with CDC Data Centres and NVIDIA to expand Project Southgate, its large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure programme that aims to deliver sovereign AI capability powered entirely by renewable energy.

The expansion extends the project’s planned capacity to 1.6 gigawatts across Australia and introduces the company’s “AI Factory” platform to the mainland.

The initiative is described as a major step in advancing Australia’s digital sovereignty, energy transition, and AI capability. The partners say the project will create thousands of jobs in construction, advanced manufacturing and operations, while supporting the development of new renewable energy projects nationwide.

“Project Southgate is a blueprint for how Australia can lead the world in scalable, sovereign AI infrastructure,”

said Oliver Curtis, Co-CEO of Firmus Technologies. “We’re building a new kind of national capability – Australiandesigned, powered by renewables, and ready to meet global demand for energy-efficient intelligence.”

The first stages of Project Southgate are under way in Tasmania and Melbourne. The initial phase, valued at AUD 4.5 billion, includes a 150-megawatt build at Southgate Melbourne featuring 18,500 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs. These units have been ordered and are expected to come online by April 2026. The infrastructure will be made available to enterprise,

STT GDC India to invest up to US$ 570 million in Maharashtra

centre parks in Mumbai and Pune. This includes the development of a new, large-scale campus in Palava, spanning over 27 acres. This facility will be purpose-built for AI and high-density computing.

These investments are expected to create over 500 highly skilled jobs and approximately 2,000 indirect employment opportunities, aiming to contribute to the region’s economic growth. The signing ceremony took place in Mumbai, in the presence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, senior state officials, and leadership teams from STT GDC in attendance.

With an established presence

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (India) (STT GDC India), a co-location data center services provider in India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Maharashtra, to develop data center campuses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune. Under the MoU, STT GDC India will invest up to an additional ₹ 5,000 crore (~US$ 569 million) to expand its major data

education, government, start-ups, and scale-ups through the Firmus AI Cloud platform.

Firmus said the project will be powered entirely by renewable energy and could enable up to 5.1GW of new wind, solar, storage and hydro generation across Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT by 2028.

The company added that its network of AI Factories will provide long-term energy demand certainty, helping to accelerate the nation’s progress towards net zero emissions.

The flagship Green AI Factory Campus in Tasmania will connect directly to the state’s renewable grid and is expected to bolster the business case for major transmission projects such as Marinus Link.

NVIDIA’s DGX Cloud will be one of the first services to run on the Southgate infrastructure. The alliance will establish a DGX Cloud region at Southgate Melbourne, providing users with access to high-performance, energy-efficient AI computing.

CDC Data Centres will provide the physical infrastructure to host Project Southgate. The company said its facilities are designed to ensure high levels of security, reliability and sustainability, operating with near-zero water consumption.

According to Firmus, Project Southgate will scale up to AUD 73.3 billion in investment through 2028.

The company estimates the initiative will create up to 20,700 direct jobs and establish Australia as a significant exporter of sustainable AI services.

across 10 major Indian cities including Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Noida, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, this expansion further solidifies its pan-India footprint.

STT GDC India signs Mou Maharashtra government

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FEATURE

Inside the gigawatt AI revolution Gigawatt-scale AI data centers will require rethinking power, cooling, and infrastructure from the ground up.

E

By Paul Mah ver since generative AI broke into the mainstream, Nvidia has been talking up plans to scale AI compute with the construction of AI factories, which are purpose-built data centers for large-scale AI workloads. More recently, it started making references to gigawatt-scale AI data centers in various keynotes and blog posts.

Most data centers today operate in the tens to low hundreds of megawatts (MW), so this is a significant step change. Why the decision to focus on gigawatt (GW) facilities? Though part of this shift is surely due to marketing considerations, there’s a practical angle: building a gigawatt-scale AI facility requires moving beyond componentlevel upgrades towards a total overhaul of how data centers are planned, powered, and cooled.

Nvidia AI racks

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Nvidia NVQLink

A different kind of data center By framing its offerings around gigawatt capacity rather than the number of servers or racks, Nvidia also moves the conversation from hardware procurement to industrial infrastructure. This serves a strategic purpose: it embeds the staggering cost of GPU systems into the broader economics of a “factory” build-out.

In effect, Nvidia is repositioning a hardware purchase as a long-term capital expenditure, such that the data center is seen not as an IT cost centre, but as a productive asset akin to a power plant or manufacturing hub.

Financial reframing aside, Nvidia’s focus on AI infrastructure reflects a fundamental change in engineering.

Where traditional data centers comprise a large collection of disparate parts, AI compute is increasingly treated as a fully integrated system. In this model, power distribution, liquid cooling, networking fabric, and software are designed to work together from the outset, minimizing complexity and shortening the time-to-market for AI deployments. This is essential for the transition from Grace Blackwell to

Issue 11

Financial reframing aside, Nvidia’s focus on AI infrastructure reflects a fundamental change in engineering the upcoming Vera Rubin platforms, which require millisecond-level synchronization across massive GPU clusters.

But Nvidia doesn’t make every system in the data center. To manage the complexity of getting disparate components to work together, it is leaning on end-to-end design tools such as digital twins and its own Omniverse platform to model and optimize facilities before construction begins. With the ability to simulate real-time workloads and thermal dynamics, operators can now de-risk these massive builds and accelerate deployment timelines.

It is worth noting that AI data centers differ from traditional facilities in important ways. For a start, they require lower levels of resilience than data centers built to support financial institutions, enterprises, or

FEATURE

footprint for heat rejection alone can exceed that of the AI factory itself, which has implications for site selection and permitting.

And in a tacit acknowledgement of how power is the primary barrier that AI data centers face, Nvidia has been an advocate of nuclear power, though commercial Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) remain in the early-mover phase. In Nvidia’s conceptual layout, on-premises generation sits alongside the AI factory, a signal that gigawattscale compute may ultimately require gigawatt-scale generation on the same site. For now, operators will have to rely on a mix of grid power and renewables.

Global demand, local strain

cloud providers. On the other hand, AI workloads surge and ebb in ways that require specialized systems to manage voltage fluctuations and rapid power draws caused by synchronised GPU clusters operating in bursts.

Anatomy of a gigawatt facility What does a gigawatt-scale AI factory look like from afar? From an engineering standpoint, even the largest AI facilities reduce to a set of common denominators. In one such conceptual layout presented by a Nvidia spokesperson, an AI factory sits within a data center compound surrounded by various critical systems. There are the requisite mechanical systems, heat rejection infrastructure, and finally, power generation systems that can come in the form of on-premises renewables, traditional power plants or power from the grid.

Perhaps what stands out is how much space that a gigawatt-scale facility will require. As AI capabilities are scaled up with increasingly powerful GPUs, infrastructure systems such as cooling towers and chillers will have to scale accordingly. Indeed, the land

Given the many reports on AI data centers of late, it’s easy to conclude that data centers are consuming the planet’s entire electricity output. But despite the sensational headlines, data centers still make up on ly a small fraction of total power consumption globally.

Other drivers such as general industrial growth, the rollout of electric vehicles, and the adoption of air conditioning, are poised to contribute far more, according to an April 2025 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Even under an extreme “lift-off” scenario where global electricity demand from data centers runs 45% higher than the IEA’s base case, the projected consumption of 1,700 TWh by 2035 would represent just 4.4% of global electricity demand.

Inside an Nvidia AI factory

For now, operators will have to rely on a mix of grid power and renewables.

Under a “headwinds” scenario where construction bottlenecks or efficiency gains cause demand to plateau, that figure dips below 2%.

That said, the challenge is not absolute growth but where it occurs.

Data centers tend to cluster in specific locations, placing concentrated strain on local grids and resources. This is already playing out in hubs like Northern Virginia, Singapore, Johor, and parts of Australia. Singapore has for years operated under a regime of controlled growth, with new capacity allocated judiciously. Johor, meanwhile, said in November 2025 that it has stopped approving certain lower-tier data centers to protect local water supplies.

Nvidia has laid out its vision. Will the rest of the ecosystem follow?

Nvidia and partners Ai infrastructure

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FEATURE

What it takes to run 600kW racks Nvidia’s 600kW racks are coming in 2027. Here’s what data center operators need to know.

By Paul Mah

N

vidia is not resting on its laurels. Even as its latest 130kW Blackwell racks are just starting to be rolled out at data centers in Asia, it is already doubling down on designs for next generation GPUs. And these far more powerful GPUs will consume significantly more electricity, indeed, so much more that data centers will need to be redesigned to accommodate them.

What capabilities will they offer and what will it take to support them?

Let’s take a closer look at the Rubin Ultra NVL576, also dubbed the “600KW racks.”

From Blackwell to Rubin Ultra At GTC 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced his company’s plan to launch a new family of GPUs

Let’s take a closer look at the Rubin Ultra NVL576, also dubbed the “600KW racks.” starting from 2026. And by the second half of 2027, the Rubin Ultra NVL576 packed with 4.6 petabytes of HBM4e memory will become available, offering 15 exaflops of FP4 or 5 exaflops of FP8 inference – as much as 14 times the performance of cutting-edge GB300 NVL72 systems today.

The comprehensive roadmap with multiple new products and their associated code names can be a lot to take in. Vera Rubin is a platform comprising several silicon components: the Vera CPU, Rubin GPU, and Rubin CPX accelerator. The upcoming Vera CPU is a custom Armv9 chip designed to serve as the orchestration plane for

Nvidia Blackwell Ultra chips

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at GTC 2025

Rubin GPUs, offering roughly double the performance of the Grace CPUs used in Blackwell systems.

Nvidia’s next-gen data center GPU, the Rubin GPU, lies at the heart of the Vera Rubin platform. This will give way to Rubin Ultra GPUs, which double the two “reticle-sized” chiplets used in each Vera Rubin GPU package to four. A reticle-size chip refers to a microprocessor design that’s as large as the maximum area that can be produced in a single photolithography exposure – meaning the Rubin Ultra GPUs will use four of these maximumsized chips in a single package.

The Rubin CPX, or Context Processor eXtension accelerator, is part of a new strategy to offload AI inference.

Designed to work with large amounts of data or large “million-token context” windows, Nvidia says it can enable AI models to examine entire codebases for coding, or perform video search and high-quality generative video.

FEATURE

Nvidia’s next-gen data center GPU, the Rubin GPU, lies at the heart of the Vera Rubin platform.

Getting there in stages The Vera Rubin platform will be released in three broad implementation phases. The first phase, envisioned to take place within 2026, will see Rubin GPUs paired with the new Vera CPUs to deliver NVL72-style systems as a direct successor to the GB300 NVL72.

Data center operators can adopt it with existing power tiers and even features a similar mechanical setup such as frontfacing trays and standard height racks to make upgrades easier.

The Vera Rubin NVL144 comes next.

This second phase marks a more visible architectural shift with configurations that push rack IT power into the 300kW range. This means it will require denser liquid loops and facilities ready for higher‑tier power and cooling. Finally, the Rubin Ultra NVL576, slated to arrive in the second half of 2027, will see the introduction of the Rubin Ultra GPU and its much larger GPU package and significantly increased compute

density for around 7.5x performance improvement over the GB300.

The Rubin Ultra NVL576 is supported by a new Kyber rack design that eliminates fans entirely for a liquid-cooling-only approach with zero reliance on air cooling. From proof-of-concepts showcased at GTC 2025, it uses a blade design with 18 vertical blades within a “pod.” Each blade houses eight Rubin Ultra GPUs alongside Vera CPUs; each server rack packs four of these pods. Taken together, the Vera Rubin platform is not a single product launch but a multi-year transition that will see data centers redesigned for AI workloads including high-capacity power delivery, advanced liquid cooling, and floor layouts that can support ultra-dense GPU clusters.

Redesigning the data hall Of course, the Rubin Ultra NVL576 with its incredible density of GPUs running at 600kW per rack will force a complete rethinking of power delivery, cooling systems, and physical infrastructure. How exactly will data halls change? For a start, the extremely heavy equipment will require reinforced floors for the tremendous weight of liquid-cooled systems including the associated cold plates, manifolds, and couplings at the rack level.

The changes go beyond the weight.

To enable the 600kW racks without filling up the space with power shelves, Nvidia’s reference design for Rubin Ultra converts medium-voltage AC at the facility level to 800 VDC. This is then distributed via DC busways directly to racks where it is stepped down to 12 VDC for use. This essentially removes PDUs, PSUs, and significantly improves efficiency.

The upcoming changes have partners scrambling to build the requisite 800 VDC ecosystem to support Rubin Ultra from 2027 onward.

Like the powerful CDUs that are now used to support Blackwell GPUs, many of these systems don’t exist or have not been deployed at scale previously.

It is worth noting that Nvidia’s design assumes a sidecar rack to handle the power and cooling required, reinforcing the trend of rack-adjacent mechanical and electrical systems becoming a permanent fixture.

The path to 600kW racks will not be straightforward. It demands a fundamental rethinking of how data centers are designed, powered, and cooled. Yet for operators willing to make the leap, the prize is clear: the capacity to capture the most demanding – and lucrative – AI workloads on the market.

The race is on to build it.

NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPU 600kW Racks

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FEATURE

Malaysia: Powering data centers at scale Malaysia ticks all the right boxes in ensuring its data centers have a smooth and sufficient flow of electricity in the years ahead.

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By Jan Yong

oes Malaysia have sufficient power to accommodate the projected massive increase in electricity consumption over the next five to ten years? Electricity consumption by data centers in Malaysia is projected to surge to over 5,000 MW by 2035, making up 40 percent of Peninsular Malaysia’s current power capacity. And according to estimates by research firm BMI, part of Fitch Solutions, electricity demand from data centres could grow by as much as 70–90 percent in 2025–2026, up from around 20 percent in 2024, as new facilities come online.

The short answer is yes, Malaysia is still capable of producing not only enough electricity for its own use but even for export purposes, as when it first exported electricity to powerconstrained Singapore in late 2024.

It is projected that Malaysia’s exports could even supply about 7 percent of Singapore’s total demand in 2035.

Surely, a country that can export excess electricity has more than enough for its own domestic use.

Furthermore, the power reserve margin or backup power supply in Peninsular Malaysia is projected to remain at about 28 percent to 36 percent from 2024 to 2030, which is above the minimum level needed to cope with any power outage. The power reserve margin is the available capacity above what is required for peak demand.Malaysia is also expected to add 6-8 GW of gas-fired power by 2030 to address the growing electricity consumption by data centres.

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“At this time, there is sufficient installed capacity to meet current and short to medium term demand, and plans are being developed to build more generation capacity for the future,” says Ir. Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad, Vice President Digital Adoption, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

Malaysia has vast power resources at its disposal ranging from coal and gas to ample renewables like hydroelectricity and solar. It also has governing institutions, at both federal and state level, which are pretty adept at planning ahead to meet the unprecedented power demand in the next few years.

Pre-emptive measures Given the possible risk, whether real or perceived, of a future power crunch, the authorities have reacted proactively by coming up with preemptive measures such as integrating sustainable practices and advanced technologies, and tweaking regulations including optimising Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and related metrics, as well as shifting to renewable energy.

Energy-efficient technologies like AI-powered cooling systems, which can achieve up to 40 per cent energy savings, are becoming the norm as increasing numbers of new data centers integrate them into their facilities.

A number of initiatives have been launched since 2023 to streamline power approvals – among them are TNB’s Green Lane Pathway which fasttracks supply offerings for electricity.

Data centres are connected three times faster than the normal delivery time, from 36 to 48 months, to a mere 12 months.

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Ir. Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad, Vice President Digital Adoption, MDEC

“At this time, there is sufficient installed capacity to meet current and short to medium term demand, and plans are being developed to build more generation capacity for the future,” - Ir. Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad In July 2025, TNB increased the electricity tariffs for high-volume users in an attempt to get them to bear the higher cost of their high usage of the grid.

Counting on renewables In Malaysia, data centers have traditionally relied on fossil fuel-based energy source, namely coal and gas, but are now increasingly ramping up

FEATURE

on renewables. Solar power paired with BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems) is the top source of renewable energy due to the availability of year-round sunshine. However, in recent months, the conversation is getting louder on using nuclear energy as a viable alternative, specifically Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

BESS essentially stores surplus electricity generated during off-peak hours which is then released to the grid when demand picks up or during unplanned interruptions. The recently launched 100MW BESS in Sabah is the largest such facility in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. While Sarawak currently operates a 60MW facility, Peninsular Malaysia has only just completed its bidding exercise for a 100MW project early this year.

Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) which is intended to guide the development of the energy industry in Malaysia, targets 70 per cent renewable energy by 2050, a much more relaxed requirement than what many foreign data center firms mandate for themselves which is usually 100 per cent renewables between now and 2030.

Other options may include wave power, bio-mass, hydroelectricity from Sarawak, or, according to MDEC, a mix of renewable energy sources as technologies based on carbon capture at various points of the energy supply chain become more economically viable. This includes the generation of blue hydrogen/ammonia from LNG. Apart from existing programmes such as the Corporate Green Power Programme (CGPP) and Large-Scale Solar (LSS), Malaysia launched the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) in September 2024.

Under CRESS, data centre operators can procure green power directly from renewable energy developers like TNB, Solarvest and Samaiden Group, via the national grid.

Solar power unfortunately suffers from intermittency issue and the need for vast tracts of land to place the solar panels. However, if paired with BESS, this might not be a big issue moving forward. Meanwhile, diesel generators are still the go-to backup energy source.

James Rix, JLL’s Head of Data Centres and Industrial - Malaysia & Indonesia, cautions against rushing headlong into alternative power

Peninsular Malaysia power demand

In Malaysia, data centers have traditionally relied on fossil fuel-based energy source, namely coal and gas, but are now increasingly ramping up on renewables. generation opportunities, stating that Malaysia still needs to create a regulatory environment that will facilitate the use of alternative sources such as nuclear or wave power.

Regulatory finetuning “The government is well aware of the demand for more energy in the future,” MDEC’s Wan Murdani says, adding that at the national level, the Data Centre Task Force (DCTF) is intended to oversee the development of the data center industry in a sustainable manner which includes managing the supply and demand of energy.

The DCTF is co-chaired by the Minister of Digital and Minister of MITI and comprises members from key regulators and stakeholders with MDEC and MIDA acting as joint secretariat. Also at the national level, MITI has introduced the Guidelines for Sustainable Development of Data Centres outlining best practices and regulatory standards for building high-performing and environmentally friendly data centres.

In June 2024, the Johor government

set up a vetting committee to address concerns over the impact of data centers on water and electricity supplies. From then on, applications not meeting the required sustainability and infrastructure standards were duly rejected, emphasizing the state’s commitment to responsible and balanced development.

Final verdict In the final analysis, despite Malaysia’s vast resources and excess power, careful planning and coordination through collaboration between government, technology companies and energy providers, are still needed to ensure the smooth and sufficient flow of electricity to data centers. There is a fundamental mismatch between data centers which overstate their electricity demand and the actual load utilisation. JLL’s Rix suggests that power should be granted on a “as needed” basis rather than huge amounts of power being granted in one application. “Power cannot continue to be granted based on the application; this leads to stranded power in that the allocation has been made but not used.”

At the same time, demand also hinges on the profitability outlook of artificial intelligence (AI) which can waver in the years ahead.

The good news is Malaysia appears to be adapting quite quickly to the fastevolving data center energy landscape and is prepared to accommodate even more in the future.

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FEATURE

Power rumble: Can US and EU data centers punch above their weight?

Photos courtesy: Pexels

Imagine you are a rising star in professional boxing. To remain relevant and secure a future in the sport, you must compete in a premier weight class that your current build hasn’t yet reached. You have to punch way above your weight - or get knocked out. Data centers today face a similar ultimatum.

By Deborah Grey and Conor McNevin

D

ata centers find themselves in a similar conundrum in the age of AI. This piece takes a deep dive into efforts made by data center owners and operators across the United States and the European Union (EU) to prepare for a world of high performance computing and high density racks. We delve specifically into what they are doing to source the unprecedented amount of power processing such workloads would require in the age of AI. Let’s first take a closer look at the United States, where the government has enabled the industry to cope with the myriad challenges posed by the advent of AI, by passing a series of policies and legislative reforms.

United States: Deregulation and rapid expansion for AI

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The United States is prioritizing rapid data center expansion, particularly for AI infrastructure. The “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure Executive Order (July 2025)” streamlines approval for “qualifying” projects requiring over 100 MW of new electricity load or capital expenditures above US$ 500 million. Federal agencies are directed to identify categorical exclusions and fast-track environmental reviews under laws such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and NEPA. The EO also encourages development on federal lands, including brownfields, and supports financial incentives like loans, guarantees, and tax breaks.

On July 23, 2025, the White House issued the “Executive Order on Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure,” a sweeping directive aimed at speeding up approval for large-scale data-center projects. These facilities—especially those designed for AI training and

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inference—are now considered critical national assets.

What the order does The new framework applies to datacenter projects that require over 100 MW of new electricity load or involve US$ 500 million in capital investment.

For such “qualifying projects,” the federal government will: • Streamline permitting under environmental laws such as NEPA, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. • Expand the use of categorical exclusions to simplify environmental review.

• Utilize FAST-41 fast-track tools to accelerate approvals.

• Allow expanded use of federal lands, including brownfields and contaminated sites, for siting new data centers, substations, and transmission lines.

FEATURE

•

Support developers through federal financing tools—loans, loan guarantees, and tax incentives.

PPAs powering digital infrastructure Mordor Intelligence1 estimates the US data center power market to be valued at US$ 15.22 billion in 2025, and expects it to touch US$ 20.95 in 2030.

“Rising AI workloads that push rack densities past 20 kW, combined with expanding hyperscale footprints and heightened sustainability mandates, are reshaping investment priorities across the power stack,” it says. “Operators are accelerating deployments of lithiumion UPS systems, intelligent power distribution units, and on-site microgrids to keep pace with demand while hedging against grid constraints.”

There is a conscious effort, at least by all the top cloud and hyperscale players, to secure access to sufficient energy. While some are doing this with strategic power purchase agreements (PPA), many others are opting to develop their own captive power generation units.

Moreover, given the growing consciousness surrounding sustainability, a significant portion of this power is coming from renewable sources such as solar and wind power.

Many data center operators are also taking keen interest in nuclear energy.

Perhaps the most high profile

of these was the 2024 signing of a 20-year PPA between Microsoft and Constellation to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1. Now, while most readers might associate Three Mile Island with the 1979 disaster, Constellation2 has clarified that it was Unit 2 that was involved in the accident and is in the process of being decommissioned.

Meanwhile the plant that’s part of the Microsoft PPA is Unit 1, which is “a fully independent facility, and its long-term operation was not impacted by the Unit 2 accident.”

Microsoft is upbeat about the project’s prospects. In a blog3 released at the time of the announcement of the PPA in 2024, Bobby Hollis, VP, Energy, Microsoft, had written, “At Microsoft, we seek to enable a decarbonized grid for our company, our customers, and the world. It’s part of our commitment to support a more sustainable future and become a carbon negative company.”

He further said that the Three Mile Island plant “will bring a significant supply of net-new, reliable, carbon-free electricity to the PJM power grid, the regional transmission organization covering 13 states, recognizing the importance of nuclear energy and complementing our 34 gigawatt (GW) contracted renewable energy portfolio in 24 countries.”

Meanwhile, Meta4 is doubling down on renewable energy with dozens of solar, wind and hydel power PPAs representing energy sourcing deals for

projects spread across the country.

In Texas, ENGIE5 is supplying energy to Meta from three major solar projects: Swenson Ranch (600 MW), Anson 2 (200 MW), and Sypert Branch (260 MW), with Meta purchasing 100 percent of the output and associated environmental attributes.

Meanwhile, Enel6 provides wind power from Rockhaven (115 MW offtake in Oklahoma) and Alta Farms in Illinois, supporting regional data centers such as DeKalb, IL. Additional Texas-based solar deals include Enbridge’s Clear Fork (600 MW), RWE’s Waterloo (200 MW), and Zelestra’s four projects totaling 595 MWac, all under agreements ensuring Meta receives full output or environmental credits to match its clean-energy goals.

Meanwhile, Google7 entered its first PPA way back in 2010. This was a 20year agreement with a 114 MW capacity wind farm in Iowa. Since then, Google has signed several more agreements with a variety of structures (including PPAs) across the U.S., Europe, and South America.

Google has expanded its focus to include more innovative, gridintegrated solutions such as established demand-response agreements with utilities in Indiana and Tennessee each of which enable Google’s data centers to adjust electricity consumption in real time to better align with grid conditions.

This approach supports system

Public domain image from Wikipedia Commons References: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

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FEATURE

“Since Google began purchasing renewable energy in 2010, the company has signed carbon free energy agreements in Europe supporting more than 4.5 gigawatts of new clean energy generation capacity.

For example, this year the company announced a first of its kind power purchase agreement (PPA) with Shell, making it the first time a corporate PPA will extend the lifespan of an offshore wind farm.”

- Adam Elman, Google’s EMEA Director of Sustainability reliability during periods of high demand or limited renewable output, helping integrate more carbon-free energy while reducing strain on local infrastructure.

Google has also not shied away from nuclear energy. In 2024, Google and Kairos Power8 signed a Master Plant Development Agreement, creating a path to deploy a U.S. fleet of advanced nuclear power projects totaling 500 MW by 2035. Under the agreement, Kairos Power will develop, construct, and operate a series of advanced reactor plants and sell energy, ancillary services, and environmental attributes to Google under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Plants will be sited in relevant service territories to supply clean electricity to Google data centers, with the first deployment by 2030.

More recently, on December 22, 2025, Google’s parent company Alphabet announced a definitive agreement to acquire Intersect, which provides data center and energy infrastructure solutions, for US$ 4.75 billion in cash, plus the assumption of debt. Google already owns a minority stake in Intersect from a previously announced funding round. The acquisition will enable more data center and generation capacity to come online, faster, while accelerating energy development and innovation.

Let’s now take a closer look at Europe, where there has been a

sustained advocacy for renewable energy. This has resulted in big ticket investments into wind, solar and hydel power projects, and now its raining PPAs here too!

Europe: Regulation, transparency, and sustainability mandates In the European Union, the drive toward sustainability and transparency is codified through a series of stringent regulations. The Energy Efficiency Directive9 (EU) 2023/1791 (EED) establishes legally binding obligations for data centers to monitor and report energy performance.

The complementary Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 defines precise reporting requirements, including total energy consumption, IT power demand, water usage, cooling systems, waste heat reuse, and facility footprint. Data centers exceeding 500 kW of IT load must submit annual reports to a centralized EU database, with the first reporting cycle covering 2023 data. While disclosures are aggregated rather than facility-specific, this transparency allows regulators, policymakers, and stakeholders to evaluate the sector’s environmental footprint comprehensively.

National implementations, such as Germany’s Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG), set even more detailed requirements. Data centers with nominal power connections over 300 kW must introduce energy or environmental management systems by mid-2025, and facilities exceeding 1 MW of IT load must achieve certified systems by 2026. From July 2026, new data centers must meet minimum energy reuse factors (ERF) for waste heat, gradually increasing over the following years. Large data centers consuming more than 2.5 GWh annually are also required to publish detailed implementation plans.

The EU plans a Data Centre Energy Efficiency Package in early 2026, part of a broader Digitalisation & AI Strategy Roadmap, targeting carbon-neutral data centers by 2030. This aligns with the European Green Deal, which emphasizes the ICT sector’s critical role in achieving climate-neutrality goals. For operators, this translates into mandatory systems for energy monitoring, detailed reporting, and strategic investments in sustainable

References: [8] [9]

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infrastructure, making transparency and compliance non-negotiable.

As a result of all this, today Europe’s green data center market, as per research by Mordor Intelligence, generated US$ 26.6 billion in 2025, and is forecast to reach USD 59.4 billion by 2030, advancing at a 17.4 percent CAGR. “Operators are steering capital toward ultra-efficient power and cooling technologies as the Energy Efficiency Directive requires facilities above 500 kW to report energy metrics and meet renewable-energy thresholds,” says the publication. “Nordic incentives for power-purchase agreements (PPAs) ensure low-carbon electricity and enable operators to post power-usageeffectiveness (PUE) ratios close to the physical minimum, while FLAP-D hubs remain attractive for interconnection density despite grid backlogs.”

All major global cloud and hyperscale players have made significant investments across the continent to meet the stringent goals and standards of the EU. “Since Google began purchasing renewable energy in 2010, the company has signed carbon free energy agreements in Europe supporting more than 4.5 gigawatts of new clean energy generation capacity. For example, this year the company announced a first of its kind power purchase agreement (PPA) with Shell10, making it the first time a corporate PPA will extend the lifespan of an offshore wind farm,” says Adam Elman, Google’s EMEA Director of Sustainability Energy challenges and opportunities: Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) Both the European and U.S. paths highlight the need for scalable, lowcarbon energy solutions. Enter Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), advanced nuclear reactors with power outputs up to 300 MW per unit, a third of traditional nuclear plants. Their modular, factoryassembled design allows them to be transported and installed in a variety of settings, including remote or gridconstrained areas, offering a flexible, low-carbon energy source for industrial and digital infrastructure.

SMRs provide several advantages: • Reduced footprint and modularity, enabling deployment where large reactors are infeasible.

FEATURE

data centers while supporting grid stability and renewable integration.

As the global digital and AI economy grows, pairing regulatory foresight with innovative energy technologies like SMRs may define the balance between rapid expansion, sustainability, and energy security in the coming decade.

In conclusion

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

•

Lower upfront costs and faster construction, thanks to prefabrication.

• Passive safety features and inherent simplicity, reducing risk and operational complexity.

• Extended refueling cycles, with some designs operating up to 30 years without refueling.

• Hybrid energy potential, pairing with variable renewables to stabilize supply and enhance efficiency.

Globally, more than 80 SMR designs are in development, with applications ranging from electricity generation to industrial heat and desalination. The technology is actively advancing, with operational examples such as Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov, producing energy from floating SMRs, and projects in Argentina, Canada, China, South Korea, and the U.S. SMRs align closely with Sustainable Development Goal 7, expanding access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy, especially in underserved or off-grid regions.

speed. European operators must invest in energy monitoring, waste heat recovery, and long-term carbonneutral planning, while U.S. operators are incentivized to rapidly expand AI infrastructure with fewer regulatory barriers. Both approaches, however, converge on one key need: reliable, scalable, low-carbon energy.

SMRs offer a promising solution, bridging the gap between high electricity demand and clean energy supply. They could provide the dispatchable, low-carbon power required to sustain next-generation

Like the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974 that changed the history of the sport, today’s data center industry is fighting a battle where strategy and endurance matter more than brute strength. Driven by AI’s explosive growth, operators are racing to build massive infrastructure, throwing capital, compute, and energy into the ring. Yet, as Ali showed against George Foreman, sheer force alone rarely wins the fight.

Governments simultaneously promote AI leadership while introducing legislation that restricts energy use, land access, and environmental impact. These conflicting policies leave the industry pushed to scale quickly but constrained at every turn. The tension mirrors a bout where one fighter is urged forward while the rules keep changing midround.

In this rumble in the tech jungle, success favours those with patience and adaptability players who can endure regulatory pressure and align growth with policy realities. As with Ali’s victory, the outcome will be decided not by power, but by intelligence, timing, and resilience.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Implications for data centers and energy strategy Europe’s regulatory rigor and U.S. deregulation reflect a fundamental tension between sustainability and References: [10]

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EXPERT SPEAK

Building Sustainable Digital Infrastructure for India’s HighDensity AI Future India’s datacenters have long served as the foundation of the country’s digital transformation, powering everything from e-commerce platforms and digital payments to online identity systems and largescale public-sector digitization.

India is witnessing an unprecedented surge in data creation, cloud adoption, and digital innovation.

By Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Founder & CEO, CtrlS Datacenters

N

ow, the rise of AI is triggering a fundamental architectural shift.

Instead of traditional, general-purpose compute environments, datacenters are rapidly evolving into AI-optimized infrastructure hubs designed to support dense GPU clusters and massively parallel workloads. This transition demands higher power and cooling capacities, resulting in not just an incremental upgrade, but a wholesale redesign of how digital infrastructure is conceived, built, and managed.

India is witnessing an unprecedented surge in data creation, cloud adoption, and digital innovation.

At the heart of this transformation lies a rapidly expanding network of worldclass datacenters—robust, secure, and built to global standards. With strong policy support, rising investments,

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and a thriving digital-first population, India is positioning itself as one of the primary global hubs. There are several advantages in choosing India.

India offers lower construction and infrastructure development costs; a continually expanding pool of engineering, manufacturing, and digital talent; and an enabling policy environment that prioritizes rapid deployment through incentives, streamlined regulatory pathways, and long-term government support mechanisms. Together, these factors not only reduce upfront capital expenditure but also enhance operational efficiency.

Lower power costs India benefits from increasingly competitive power tariffs across several states, supported by expanding transmission infrastructure. In parallel, the rapid growth of 24/7 renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs)— often backed by hybrid wind-solar projects and storage solutions—is enhancing supply reliability, further

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CtrlS Datacenters solar power plant in Nagpur

lowering energy costs.

Strengthening AI-ready substations, expanding transmission corridors, and advancing energy storage will further reinforce renewable integration. The sector is steadily shifting toward cleaner power with grid-backed renewables, early solar-plus-storage, and hybrid backup systems. Though early, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) could also provide India with a resilient, lowcarbon foundation for future highdensity campuses.

Competitive PUE Forward-thinking datacenter operators in India are achieving PUE levels on par with those in colder climates, driven by advanced cooling design and innovation. Liquid and direct-to-chip cooling have now become critical. Advanced Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) delivers significant energy savings, boosts AI performance, and eliminates bulk of heat, setting a new standard in thermal efficiency.

Immersion cooling further enhances energy reduction and rack density, while closed-loop liquid systems dramatically cut water usage—a crucial advantage in water-stressed regions.

EXPERT SPEAK

Globally, nations are trying to balance AI acceleration and environmental accountability. India can chart a balanced course pairing compute growth with environmental stewardship

Unlocking potential beyond metros

Policy and regulatory ecosystem Research shows that India’s datacenter capacity is on track to exceed 1.8 GW by 2027. Strong regulatory catalysts and policy frameworks, including data-localization mandates are enabling this growth.

India has built a strong foundation of policies supporting datacenter development, streamlined clearances, renewable energy adoption, and energy-efficient facilities.

Balancing AI acceleration and sustainability Globally, nations are trying to balance AI acceleration and environmental accountability. India can chart a balanced course pairing compute growth with environmental stewardship. Ongoing initiatives, such as IndiaAI Mission, AI-aligned power corridors, push for renewable energy adoption and integration are positioning India as a hub for sustainable compute, prepared for the AI era. Incentives for green technologies, recycled water, and efficient cooling systems are enhancing the economics of large-scale AI deployment.

India’s datacenter map will not remain metro-centric. For AI to scale, inference must reside closer to where data is generated. Tier-2 and tier-3 regions are increasingly becoming natural extensions of India’s computing landscape, driven by enhanced grid readiness, strong local talent, and favourable state policies supporting digital growth infrastructure. These cities offer smoother power expansion, quicker deployment cycles, and operational efficiencies tailored for high-density edge and inference workloads. As AI adoption deepens, these locations will become mini-AI zones supporting local-language models and region-specific inference workloads.

Collaboration as catalyst for growth Sustainable AI infrastructure cannot be built solely by operators. It requires collective action across power

utilities, hardware manufacturers, grid-planning authorities, coolingtechnology firms, renewable-asset developers, policymakers, hyperscalers and sovereign-compute buyers.

India can accelerate growth by strengthening partnerships where energy companies and datacenter operators co-develop renewable energy, domestic manufacturers adapt new cooling tech for local needs, and AI firms get involved early in infrastructure planning for long-term efficiency.

This shift is already visible in the market through new MoUs between datacenter operators and public renewable organizations, focusing on co-developing clean-energy projects.

Conclusion India’s AI future is unfolding with rapidly growing datacenter capacities, strengthened substations, integrated renewable corridors, advanced cooling networks, and emerging circular supply chains. The datacenters are becoming a national strategic asset.

Indian datacenters promise not only to cater to the domestic digital economy but also serve as a regional backbone for global cloud and edge computing operations. India is playing a critical role in shaping the worldwide data flow, offering scalable, cost-effective, and secure digital infrastructure that aligns with the rising demand for AI, IoT, and 5G-driven applications. The digital infrastructure that India is building today will shape its long-term AI capabilities, global competitiveness, and leadership in sustainable digital innovation.

CtrlS Datacenters Kolkata facility

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2026 EVENTS CALENDAR

2026 Events Calendar January

February

March

April

4 February w.media Connect Networking

3 March w.media Connect Networking

London

London

5 February w.media Connect Networking Riyadh

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February w.media Connect Networking Singapore

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May

17 April Taiwan Cloud and Datacenter Convention Taipei

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June

17 June Riyadh Interconnect World Forum Riyadh 21 June SIJORI week w.media Connect - Golf Batam 23 June SIJORI week Johor Interconnect World Forum Johor 24 June Southeast Asia High Performance Computing Summit Singapore 24 June SIJORI week Data Center Investment Summit - SEA Singapore 25 June SIJORI week Cloud and Datacenter Convention Singapore 27 June SIJORI week w.media Connect Football.

Singapore

AWARDS Attendee and sponsorship opportunities are now open.

For more details, visit our websites.

Cloud and Datacenter Conventions at:

Dates are subjected to changes, please visit our website for latest schedule.

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Interconnect World Forum at:

w.media Connect at

Awards at:

June w.media Connect Networking Manchester

2026 EVENTS CALENDAR

July

24 July Greater Bay Area Cloud and Datacenter Convention Hong Kong 24 July Data Center Investment Summit - NEA Hong Kong

August

September

October

20 August Vietnam Cloud and Datacenter Convention Ho Chi Minh

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BALI Week 25 August w.media Connect Networking

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November

New Zealand Cloud and Datacenter Convention Auckland

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December ANZ Awards Sydney

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Issue 11 |

The Race to 600kW |

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TURN-KEY, SUSTAINABLE & PRECISION ENGINEERED

DATA CENTER SOLUTIONS Built in APAC. For APAC. At the Speed the Region Demands.

For over 20 years, Subzero Engineering has delivered precision-engineered, data-driven solutions that boost efficiency, reliability, and sustainability in the world’s most demanding critical environments.

Consultation Services

Begin with clarity. We help assess immediate needs and long-term goals for today’s evolving critical environments.

Design Services

Precision-engineered layouts and solutions tailored to your facility, workloads, and growth strategy.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Data-backed airflow modeling that reduces energy consumption, improves cooling efficiency, and enhances long-term sustainability

Scan QR code to watch a video about our APAC Facility

Advanced Containment & Cooling

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High-density, hybrid-cooling-ready aisles, modular enclosures, and airflow solutions engineered for AI and next-gen workloads.

Installation Services

Certified global site teams ensure accurate, safe, and rapid deployments—anywhere in the world.

Maintenance & Optimization 30

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Increase density, efficiency, and sustainability through ongoing monitoring, tuning, and lifecycle services.

Special Awards SUPPLEMENT

Global Switch

Subzero Engineering

DC Byte

DongFong Technology

SUPPLEMENT

Driving the industry forward Every year w.media recognizes the exceptional work done by the data center industry.

T

he Awards are categorized broadly into “Projects,” “Planet,” and “People,” each of which contains between five and six subcategories.

Entries are painstakingly reviewed by a panel of judges, themselves experts from the industry with decades of combined experience.

The objective is simple: to find and recognize groundbreaking projects or initiatives that we might otherwise never know about. In a sector that often operates behind closed doors, the Awards shine a light on the teams and companies pushing boundaries for us

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The objective is simple: to find and recognize groundbreaking projects or initiatives that we might otherwise never know about.

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to celebrate as an industry.

This ties back to the founding ethos of the w.media platform. We want to bring together data center and cloud professionals from both mature and

SUPPLEMENT

emerging markets, to share ideas, do business, and learn from one another.

In this supplement, some of the winners of the w.media Asia Awards 2025 present their work and outlook. These partner features offer a closer look at the strategies and solutions behind their success, from containment and cooling innovations to AI infrastructure design and market intelligence.

How CRESS Programme Works?

National Grid (TNB Grid System)

Corporate Consumer (Green Consumer)

Renewable Energy Developer (RED)

Environmental Impact + ESG Reporting

Generate green electricity external to company

1 1

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RED

Key Players

Transmits electricity via open access

Builds and operates solar plants

Pays for electricity + RECs

31

TNB GRID Acts as the transmission backbone under ThirdParty Access (TPA)

41

Corporate Consumer Buys green electricity directly, bypassing traditional utility monopolies

Energy Commission Regulates the process and ensures compliance

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29

ADVERTORIAL

Future-proofing through flexible data centres For Global Switch, the flexibility of its data centers is central to capturing opportunities in a booming industry.

I

n the rapidly evolving data center industry, data center solutions pioneer Global Switch believes there are five measures that can futureproof data centers for the years ahead: carrier and cloud neutral flexible infrastructure to enable a variety of hardware and cooling solutions, long-term sustainability in building design, operational excellence, and the use of automation and artificial intelligence.

The firm is currently focused on the redevelopment and densification of its sites, transforming them into highly flexible data centers capable of handling the most demanding AI and HPC workloads. Its redevelopment and densification programme is being carried out globally, creating hundreds of jobs in construction and associated fields, and billions in local economic impact.

A look inside Global Switch’s liquid cooling suite in London

Global Switch is laser focused on the flexibility it believes is key to its continued leadership in the industry. This flexibility allows them to accommodate all customer demands and serve the complete breadth of the market, enabling customers to deploy whatever hardware they require and with any method of cooling.

Global Switch is laser focused on the flexibility it believes is key to its continued leadership in the industry.

At the same time, the company already has an in-built advantage through its strategic locations in the heart of key cities in markets around the world. This allows Global Switch’s data centers to benefit from the exceptional connectivity and low latency.

The company also utilizes AI for predictive maintenance, automating resource management, and optimizing cooling and energy use.

For example, AI helps streamline security by detecting threats and triggering automated responses.

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ADVERTORIAL

To build future resilience, Global Switch always ensures it stays ahead of the regulatory curve. heat from data centers back into the community. This benefits both the environment and the people of Paris.

To build future resilience, Global Switch always ensures it stays ahead of the regulatory curve. A recent example was the EU Code of Conduct on Energy Efficiency for data centres, a voluntary initiative for which the company’s data centers have now been officially approved. European practices are considered best in class, and these principles and best practices are also being rolled out across its data centers in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Global Switch is well placed to face the future, in an industry still attracting a huge amount of capital as companies push for compute in the AI revolution. The pace of change shows no sign of letting up and Global Switch is primed and ready to capture the many opportunities available – all powered by its agile management and flexibility-focused strategy.

These innovations reduce manual intervention, accelerate provisioning, and minimize downtime, allowing teams to focus on strategic priorities.

By embedding AI across workflows, Global Switch ensures operational excellence, sustainability, and readiness for future demands.

When it comes to futureproofing, sustainability is always front of mind.

In 2025, Global Switch undertook a Renewable Energy PPA program, contracting directly with renewable projects, including wind and solar, and supporting new developments.

This will help the company meet its 100 per cent renewable energy target in addition to procuring renewable energy certificates to match the consumption of electricity in its data centers. It currently operates using 90.6 per cent renewable electricity.

Another project that the company has committed to is heat offtake agreements in France: recycling excess

Designed for scale and adaptability

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ADVERTORIAL

Latest advancements in containment for data centers Data Center containment can save 30% energy

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s liquid cooling adoption grows from increased demands, the accompanying technologies that enhance energy savings are seeing a high takeup rate as well. One of the technologies is containment which is quickly becoming a necessity in advanced technologies required in modern data center facilities. Containment, briefly, is the engineered separation of hot exhaust air from cold supply air in the data hall. When these airflows are prevented from mixing, cooling systems operate far more efficiently, therefore reducing wasted energy, stabilizing intake temperatures, and supporting higher rack densities.

In traditional facilities, speed

of deployment is the biggest advancement in containment technology. Real world performance of Subzero Engineering’s systems shows deployment is about 40 percent faster than traditional methods, thus reducing labour costs and accelerating time to revenue.

The biggest advantage in containment isn’t just speed, but also substantial energy savings. Subzero Engineering’s containment typically delivers around 30 per cent cooling energy savings over the system’s life, directly lowering PUE and reducing long-term operating costs.

Although there are alternatives to containment, such as in-row cooling or raised-floor tuning, they may offer partial benefits and can rarely match containment’s scalability, predictability

Subzero Engineering Strengthens Global Reach with Launch of New Vietnam Facility

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Source: Subzero Engineering

or energy impact. Containment works with existing cooling infrastructure and does not require replacing systems.

Skipping containment often locks in a higher PUE floor and reduces flexibility as densities increase. For organizations serious about efficiency and resilience, engineered containment remains the most proven path, working in both new builds and retrofits.

Subzero’s systems are purposebuilt, engineered, and tested offsite to eliminate fitting issues, reduce on-site rework, and maintain predictable timelines. The firm has improved sealing for high-humidity climates, standardized core components for

The biggest advantage in containment isn’t just speed, but also substantial energy savings.

ADVERTORIAL

consistent manufacturing quality, and made reconfiguration simpler to support evolving layouts. It has already deployed proven hybrid cooling solutions while others are still evaluating options. These improvements are already proven across APAC deployments.

The containment systems are designed to integrate with hybrid cooling strategies and feature flexible configurations that accommodate evolving layouts. With its adaptive design, the system supports rack densities from 10 kW to well beyond 50 kW (to support AI workloads), without overhauling existing infrastructure, and protecting the customer’s long-term investment.

But to obtain full benefits from containment, it requires early coordination with facility layout and cooling design to ensure proper integration and disciplined airflow management.

In mature APAC markets such as Singapore, Japan and Australia, containment is now standard in new hyperscale and enterprise builds.

In emerging markets, operators are skipping legacy designs entirely and adopting containment from day one.

The real differentiator is not whether containment is used, but how well it is engineered and integrated.

“At Subzero Engineering, we solve thermal challenges at the source.

Besides engaging with customers and strategic partners, we build our containment solutions locally in APAC. The result is a containment solution that is fast, future-ready and built for

Source: Subzero Engineering

The containment systems are designed to integrate with hybrid cooling strategies and feature flexible configurations that accommodate evolving layouts. what is next,” said Midge Pan, General Manager, APAC region of Subzero Engineering.

HCMC – strategic alignment with APAC Subzero Engineering recently announced the launch of a new manufacturing and R&D facility in Ho Chi Minh City. “The Ho Chi Minh City facility is a cornerstone of our APAC strategy. It’s not about lowering cost; it’s about aligning with APAC’s rapid

expansion,” says Midge Pan, explaining the firm’s debut into Vietnam.

He adds that having a local manufacturing facility such as the one in HCMC, cuts lead times by up to 50 per cent, reduces supply-chain risk, and ensures consistent quality.

“With engineering and production in-region, we adapt quickly to local operating conditions - from Indonesia’s humidity to Japan’s climate-driven design requirements and Australia’s green-grid mandates. It delivers local responsiveness at global scale,” notes Pan. “Because we are co-located with fast-moving markets, we can turn customer insights into refined engineering within weeks, not quarters.

As AI and sustainability demands accelerate, this agility ensures APAC does not just adopt global standards.

It helps define them,” the Subzero General Manager, APAC concludes.

Source: Subzero Engineering

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ADVERTORIAL

How AI is Reshaping APAC Data Centers APAC’s Data Center Boom: On the Ground with DC Byte

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he data center industry has shifted dramatically over the last few years, observed James Murphy, Managing Director at data center intelligence firm DC Byte. When Murphy started the firm’s Asia Pacific (APAC) office in 2021, a 20-megawatt facility was seen as fairly large, and a 50MW data center was considered huge. Today, 50MW is practically a minimum requirement as the world races to build more data centers.

Part of this could probably be attributed to the initial surge in digital infrastructure in the immediate aftermath of COVID. Then the release of ChatGPT and the subsequent race to build massive AI data centers cemented it. But just how much growth has happened, and what is the state of the data center markets in APAC today?

The race for power and new markets It used to be that data centers were clustered around a few key markets in APAC. Today, there are probably 20 to APAC Team

A-Flow ML1 Site Tour (Philippines)

To reduce building shaking during earthquakes, tuned viscous or mass dampers, and viscoelastic couplers are typically used.

25 markets across the region growing more or less concurrently, says Murphy.

Markets like Johor, Melbourne, and Bangkok are seeing rapid growth, with several hundred megawatts being deployed in a very short period – despite

Gaw Capital Partners Golden Digital Gateway Site Tour (Batam)

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the fact that some were relatively small or, as in the case of Johor, had close to zero data centers five years ago.

According to Murphy, this is a trend across the board: development happens a lot quicker than in previous years. “Once the market decides that a location is a good place to develop, we’re seeing a huge amount of momentum behind these markets, and we’re seeing them grow at a much faster pace than we would have seen the established markets a decade or so ago.”

While the cloud continues to drive significant organic demand, AI is influencing the geography of this growth. It is well known that power is the limiting factor for data centers.

Murphy noted that AI deployments have a unique advantage: they don’t always face the same strict location constraints as traditional cloud infrastructure, which must be deployed closer to users.

“AI facilities are much better placed to really chase the power. It’s not really the cloud facilities that are in a

ADVERTORIAL

APAC Team

YTL Green Data Centre Park Site Tour (Johor)

To reduce building shaking during earthquakes, tuned viscous or mass dampers, and viscoelastic couplers are typically used. position to do this, but some of the AI deployments are, because they’re not tied to the same strict architecture,” said Murphy.

The truth about timelines A common misconception is the belief that all data centers are built at the same speed and with the same considerations. “People think that once a shovel is in the ground, all of a sudden you’re going to have a fully built-out facility with customers inside and fully committed in 24 months. The reality is… it’s certainly taken much, much longer.”

Murphy noted that some highprofile hyperscalers do have longer construction periods, and historical data shows they often take more than two years to build out full facilities. There are several reasons for that, ranging from approvals and regulatory hurdles in mature markets, complex engineering for multi-story data centers in locations with land constraints, delays stemming from utility upgrades, or manpower

limitations.

Ultimately, no two construction projects are the same, which means not all data center developments will follow a straight line to completion.

While traditional hyperscale data center builds can take time to complete, a new wave of AI-driven projects is changing the industry as it shrinks timeframes in the rush to bring more capacity online faster. In addition, Chinese operators expanding into Southeast Asia are leveraging their extensive knowhow and capabilities to build entire campuses in one go – a shift from how facilities are usually built over several phases.

Separating hype from ground reality Because what is publicly announced typically describes a project in its final stages or at completion, the result is often a skewed picture of the market. This is where DC Byte comes in, providing market intelligence that cuts through the hype to show what’s actually happening. Among other things, it helps close the gap between announcements and groundbreaking ceremonies on one hand, and actual delivery timelines on the other.

The discrepancies can be substantial. Some announced projects

show little progress on the ground, while unlisted ones are moving fast.

This is particularly true with private operators, who often keep their projects tightly sealed and have no requirement to make public disclosures – even when building significant capacity. To address this, DC Byte tracks both publicly announced projects and these underthe-radar operators.

Beyond desk research, the data is verified through site visits to confirm what’s being built versus what’s announced. The full pipeline of data centers is tracked: planned, under construction, and operational facilities.

“Every year, or certainly for the last three or four years since we’ve been in APAC, we’ve visited hundreds of sites.

So the team now is at a stage where they can accurately determine how far a specific project is along in its development cycle,” explained Murphy.

For now, Murphy expects new markets in APAC to continue opening up over the next 12 months, with Bangkok and India seeing major growth. Cloud expansion also remains strong, with potential new cloud regions in Manila and Ho Chi Minh City.

The takeaway: growth will continue and will be felt across a broader region than ever before.

Worried your market analysis relies on inaccurate data? Connect with the DC Byte team for verified market intelligence.

STT GDC Jakarta 1 Site Tour (Jakarta)

STT GDC Fairview 1 Site Tour (Philippines)

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ADVERTORIAL

Why DongFong Technology takes an integrated approach to AI deployments High-density AI environments call for a fundamentally different approach to data center design.

D

riven by rising AI rack densities, data centers are slowly but surely shifting to liquid cooling as standard.

And with power availability increasingly becoming the primary constraint for site selection, data center operators are also integrating renewable energy and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) into their facilities.

As data centers evolve to accommodate these new realities, their design and operational strategies must change with the times, too. This shift demands a more integrated approach, one that treats power, cooling, and infrastructure not as separate concerns but as interdependent systems that must be planned together from the outset.

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Beyond conventional design New operators frequently underestimate the operational complexity of high-density GPU environments, treating an AI deployment as simply a scaled-up version of a conventional facility. In practice, AI hardware represents a fundamentally different type of infrastructure that necessitates a distinct design and operational approach. Power density, cooling architecture, structural capacity, and operational resilience are deeply interconnected and must be designed as an integrated system. Projects that fail to address this holistically often encounter challenges during deployment or expansion.

For instance, designs are often drawn up based on theoretical

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New operators frequently underestimate the operational complexity of high-density GPU environments, treating an AI deployment as simply a scaled-up version of a conventional facility. peak power ratings rather than real-world load behavior. This means transient spikes and uneven thermal distribution are typically not taken into consideration, which can be a serious issue given the high power draw of GPUs. Inadequate attention to upstream electrical redundancy, voltage stability, floor loading, and serviceability can also significantly impact long-term reliability and scalability.

In the same vein, liquid cooling is often evaluated primarily on thermal performance, while longterm operational factors receive less attention. Yet considerations such as coolant quality management, leak detection strategies, maintenance workflows, and compatibility with existing facility standards are critical to ensuring reliability over time. Without proper planning for these lifecycle factors, liquid cooling can introduce operational risk instead of delivering its intended benefits.

Integration over isolation Within a high-density data center, performance and efficiency are driven by system-level integration, not individual components. Electrical infrastructure, cooling systems, control logic, and monitoring platforms must be engineered to operate as a unified ecosystem rather than as discrete systems.

ADVERTORIAL

Consider the deployment of the Nvidia GB300. With racks that can exceed 70–120kW, cooling is critical.

Yet high-density fiber optics can create thermal zoning and layout constraints that are often overlooked in initial planning. Direct-to-chip cooling also demands treated coolant, dual-loop redundancy, and strict operational control. Each of these elements must work in concert; optimizing one in isolation can undermine the others.

This interconnectedness makes it essential to begin with a clear understanding of target workloads and growth trajectories. Unlike traditional data center environments that remain relatively static, AI compute platforms evolve rapidly, often outpacing typical retrofit timeframes. What works today may be inadequate within a few years as rack densities increase and cooling requirements shift.

Operators who recognize this can design infrastructure with builtin adaptability, whether through modular power distribution, flexible cooling pathways, or spatial layouts that anticipate higher densities.

This approach helps avoid costly overhauls and maintains the flexibility to accommodate next-generation hardware. In AI environments, future-proofing is not optional; it is foundational to long-term success.

Staying ahead The AI landscape is evolving at a relentless pace. New GPU architectures, shifting power requirements, and

advances in cooling technology mean that best practices today may be outdated within months. For operators and designers, staying current is not just advantageous; it is essential to delivering infrastructure that remains viable over its intended lifespan.

Equally important is the recognition that successful AI deployments are the result of early, coordinated collaboration across disciplines. When electrical, mechanical, and structural teams work in silos, inefficiencies and design conflicts are almost inevitable.

A more integrated approach, where stakeholders align from the outset, leads to facilities that are more resilient, efficient, and adaptable.

This philosophy underpins how DongFong Technology approaches every project, whether data center design and construction, GB300 AI deployments, or national-level integration initiatives. To ensure its consultants and designers stay at the

For instance, designs are often drawn up based on theoretical peak power ratings rather than realworld load behavior. forefront, the company maintains monthly internal reviews of the latest GPU developments while collaborating directly with Nvidia ecosystem partners.

With operational data centers in Taipei and Taichung delivering colocation, dark fiber, and enterprise network services, DongFong Technology offers end-to-end AI and data center engineering, from design and construction through to commissioning and operations.

Planning your next infrastructure project? A conversation with DongFong Technology may be the place to start.

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Special Awards

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HAPPENINGS

Can Malaysia sustain its data center surge?

Malaysia’s data center boom is real, but rising costs and regional competition will reshape its next chapter.

By Hazel Moises

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he energy was palpable at the Grand Nexus Ballroom in the Connexion Conference & Event Centre, where over 1,800 industry leaders gathered for the Malaysia Cloud & Datacenter Convention 2025. The question posed by Paul Mah, Executive Editor at W.Media, hung in the air: Can Malaysia’s data center market, currently in a “once-in-a-generational” boom, sustain its incredible momentum without eroding the very fundamentals that made it happen?

The consensus from the panel was clear. While the boom is no accident, the next phase of growth will be markedly different.

The conversation kicked off with a compelling visual, a chart from JLL’s APAC Data Center Market Dynamics report. It showed Malaysia trailing in regional capacity for 2025, only to surge ahead of established players like Singapore and South Korea by 2027 and lead by 2029 .

“You don’t build data centers overnight,” Mah said, highlighting that the growth visible today is the result of phenomenal groundwork laid over the past two to three years. This set the stage for a deep dive into the forces behind the surge and the challenges on the horizon.

How Malaysia became an epicenter

Source: JLL Research, Structure Research

The panelists identified a confluence of factors that propelled Malaysia onto the global stage. Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad from MDEC pushed back against the narrative that Malaysia is merely a “spillover effect” of Singapore’s moratorium. He emphasized that a deliberate government decision a decade ago to prioritize and attract “catalytic investors” was crucial. “It wasn’t an easy task… because there was no validation,” he said, noting that bringing in the top hyperscalers first created the critical mass and validation for others to follow.

Meanwhile, from the investor’s lens, Joe Liew from CLSA provided the financial perspective, highlighting how the data center theme has electrified the Malaysian stock market. He reported construction company order books doubling or tripling, property firms profiting from land sales, and utility companies seeing increased demand. This theme, intertwined with the global AI boom represented by giants like Nvidia and TSMC, has

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The chart that tells a story

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The panelists identified a confluence of factors that propelled Malaysia onto the global stage. attracted significant foreign and domestic investment, causing related stocks to rally over 30% in the past year.

Mahathir Bin Said of TM Nxera recalled TM’s early gamble a decade ago to build mega data centers, a move that was ahead of its time but ultimately helped pave the way. “Twenty megawatt those days was considered huge… nowadays we are not considered large anymore,” he stated, underscoring the scale of current developments, such as his own company’s plan for a 200MW campus in Johor.

HAPPENINGS

The rising tide of challenges The discussion then turned to the headwinds that threaten to cool the overheated market. Joe Liew pointed to a stark new reality: the equation for building in Malaysia is becoming “a lot more difficult.”

Soaring Costs: Land prices in key areas like Johor have doubled or tripled. Electricity prices saw a 15% hike this year, and resources like water for cooling are becoming scarcer .

Evolving Incentives: Wan Murdani explained that the government’s incentive structure is maturing. The front-loaded, zero-tax incentives are giving way to an outcome-based model where tax breaks are tied to delivered economic impact. “Everybody has to compete on a level playing field when the particular industry has reached a certain maturity,” he stated.

Regional Competition: The panel acknowledged that Malaysia is no longer alone. Neighbors like Thailand and Indonesia are actively rolling out the red carpet, forcing Malaysia to compete on more than just cost.

Sustaining the momentum Faced with these challenges, the panel outlined a multi-faceted strategy to secure Malaysia’s future.

Joe Liew pointed to the government’s commitment as a key consumer, citing the 2 billion ringgit allocation for a sovereign AI cloud in the 2026 budget. This, coupled with data sovereignty concerns from sectors like banking and government, ensures a strong local market. “Don’t forget local consumption,” he urged.

Mahathir stressed the need for a “win-win” situation where businesses contribute to talent development and the local supply chain. He highlighted work with universities to tailor curricula in engineering and business to support the industry’s multi-disciplinary needs.

Wan Murdani underscored Malaysia’s “whole-of-government approach,” involving agencies like MITI, MIDA, MDEC, and the Ministry of Digital. This cohesive strategy, combined with a focus on digitalizing high-growth sectors like public services and finance, aims to create a pervasive and ubiquitous market for digital

Image courtesy Pexels

Faced with these challenges, the panel outlined a multi-faceted strategy to secure Malaysia’s future. services. The goal is to make Malaysia the preferred landing point for investors looking at the ASEAN region, projected to be a US$1 trillion digital economy by 2030.

A journey just begun

Image courtesy Pexels

As the session concluded, the panelists shared their vision for the next three to five years. They saw Malaysia evolving from a pure infrastructure play into an integrated digital hub.

Wan Murdani kept the end-game in sight: the US$1 trillion ASEAN digital economy. Joe Liew remained positive about long-term growth, albeit at a more sustainable pace than the initial explosive surge. Mahathir envisioned a future where the data center boom spurs advanced capabilities in AI, machine learning, and software development.

Mah noted: “It looks like we are… at the start of a brave new world, a fantastic new journey.” The message from the convention was clear, Malaysia’s data center story is far from over. It is simply entering a new, more complex, and more promising chapter.

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EXPERT SPEAK

Redefining the data center for the era of GPU-driven AI The push toward 600 kW per rack is forcing the data center industry to revisit decades of design assumptions.

Power demands of 100 kW per rack are now routine in nextgeneration deployments.

By Sandeep Dandekar, Datacenter Expert, India

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n early 2025, most racks in enterprise and hyperscale facilities operated in the 3–5 kW range. Traditional CPUs powered businesses, web servers hummed along, and cooling systems kept pace. The challenges were real but predictable.

GPU-driven applications for machine learning, generative AI, scientific simulation, and enterprise analytics have changed that equation.

Power demands of 100 kW per rack are now routine in next-generation deployments. Nvidia has introduced racks capable of 600 kW, and designs for 1 MW and 2 MW configurations are already in discussion.

But with GPU acceleration, demand skyrocketed. AI model training and inferencing, requiring hundreds of parallel processors, turned racks into concentrated power draws. Operators needed to deliver 10x, 20x, even 100x more power per rack than before.

Why did the industry not simply slow down? Because market forces compelled a new approach. Hyperscale cloud providers wanted to pack All Images courtesy: Freepik

From 5kW to 600kW In the 2010s, through early 2025, design norms for data centers were shaped around reasonable rack densities. Facilities were laid out with hot and cold aisles, raised floors, and air-cooled CRACs (computer room air conditioners). Electrical power infrastructure evolved cautiously, ticking up kilowatts per rack as CPUs got thirstier.

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more compute into less physical space, enterprise CIOs demanded AI capability now, chip makers pushed the boundaries of what silicon can do, and data center owners grappled with unprecedented capex per MW. Designing for new densities When rack densities multiply, the fundamental requirements of the data center must change.

Building construction: Floors must be reinforced to handle heavier hardware. Space allocation shifts from maximizing racks per square foot to maximizing kW per rack. Some new builds resemble industrial facilities more than tech offices.

Electrical distribution: Substation capacities escalate; power transformers are sized for small towns, not single buildings. Backup systems, UPS, generators, battery banks, must deliver reliability at scales previously uncommon.

MEP services: Routes for cabling, plumbing, and ventilation are reengineered. Control systems, sensors, and fire suppression all need upgrades.

Cooling technology: Air cooling is no longer sufficient. Liquid cooling, cold plates, rear-door heat exchangers, and rack immersion have moved from experimental to necessary. Even these methods face challenges at 600 kW and beyond.

For every question solved, new

EXPERT SPEAK

uncertainties arise: how will local grids handle so much concentrated draw?

Are rare earth materials for advanced chips and coolers available at scale? Will new tariffs or geopolitical shifts disrupt supply chains?

Regional dynamics The United States, with its tech giants, remains at the forefront, deploying high-density racks and retrofitting existing campuses rapidly.

China is investing heavily in AI infrastructure and local ecosystem development. National support means supply chain resilience and political will aligning for hyperscale ambition.

India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East are seeing new greenfield projects emerge from regional hubs pursuing digital transformation.

But challenges persist. Power bottlenecks loom, utility providers and governments struggle to forecast and deliver reliable capacity within project timelines. Construction cycles have

compressed from 24–36 months to 12–18 months. Tariffs, materials scarcity, and regulatory fragmentation add uncertainty to every schedule.

Will grid upgrades keep pace? Will liquid cooling remain cost-effective past 1 MW per rack? Will skilled labor scale with demand?

Perspectives from practitioners The head of engineering at a leading colocation provider, reflecting on their first 600 kW rack deployment: “There’s excitement, but also caution.

Every time we think we’ve planned thoroughly, requirements shift. Our previous design standards are reference material now, not templates.”

A project manager at an AI startup describes deployment cycles: “Timeline?

Six months, not sixteen. Supply delays?

Expected. Budget? Build in significant contingency if you want to compete.”

These practitioners are confronting new cooling technologies, reimagined electrical layouts, and persistent client pressure for faster delivery.

Financial implications CapEx per MW is reaching all-time highs. Some reports suggest that at 600 kW and above, data center build costs could increase 2–4x over legacy models.

Opex is also climbing, with energy as the primary operational expense.

Analysts estimate a 165% rise in data center power consumption by 2030, driven largely by AI workloads. GPU

Power bottlenecks loom, utility providers and governments struggle to forecast and deliver reliable capacity within project timelines. clusters not only push rack densities but also require more complex power backup systems, storage solutions, and ongoing maintenance.

Financial models are being revised.

Operators seek new partnerships, power purchase agreements, and creative financing structures.

Conclusion The shift toward 600 kW racks is more than an increase in power density.

It marks a change in how data centers are designed, built, and operated.

Cross-industry learning and global best practices are essential. Flexibility in design, supply chain management, and regulatory navigation emerges as a critical competitive edge. Operators must prepare for supply constraints and grid capacity challenges.

For those willing to adapt, the opportunity is significant: data centers as critical infrastructure for the digital economy, powering everything from AI to scientific computing. For those waiting for conditions to stabilize, the risk is falling behind as the market moves forward.

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HAPPENINGS

Mumbai CDC and South Asia Awards 2025: Showcasing and honouring India’s top digital infrastructure professionals!

Over 1,600 technology professionals including cloud and data center industry veterans and digital infrastructure experts thronged Hotel Sahara Star for Mumbai Cloud & Datacenter Convention and South Asia Awards 2025. Attendees included industry bigwigs, influential technocrats, data center owners and operators, connectivity ecosystem experts, as well as hundreds of providers of technologies that help run data centers.

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he inaugural session saw lighting of the traditional lamp by guests of honour: Sanjay Kumar (Special Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana), Deependra Singh Kushwah (Development Commissioner - Industries & Chairman - MAITRY, Government of Maharashtra), Nirupa Chander (SVP - Secure Power & Datacenters - International Operations, Schneider Electric), and Syed Mohamed Beary (Founder & Chairman, Bearys Group).

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Guests of honour light traditional lamp to inaugurate Mumbai CDC 2025 as Navin Andrade, GM – South Asia & Middle East (w.media) looks on

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HAPPENINGS

Mumbai CDC showcased a stellar line-up of speakers including Bimal Khandelwal (CEO, ST Telemedia Global Data Centers, India), Surajit Chatterjee (MD & Head, Data Centers - India, CapitaLand Investment), Sujit Panda (COO, BDx Datacenters), Amit Agrawal (President, Data centers, Techno Digital), Gautam Saraf (Executive Managing Director, Mumbai & New Business, Cushman & Wakefield), Rachit Mohan (Executive Director, JLL), Sreejith G (Sr. VP – Operations, ST Telemedia Global Data Centers, India), Rajesh Garg (President & Group CIO, Yotta Data Services), Narendra Sen (Founder & CEO, RackBank), Jagat Ram (Head – Datacenter, Operation & Delivery, L&T), as well as industry experts like Prashant Tiwari (Director – India, Sudlows Consulting), NK Singh (CEO, Datacenter Guru), NK Jain (Founder NK Jain Consulting Engineers), data center industry veteran Sandeep Dandekar, among others.

This year, the Mumbai Cloud & Datacenter Convention (CDC) also saw the second edition of CenterStage Mumbai, a special breakaway session that will be held in the Expo Hall.

CenterStage is a series of technology presentations, fireside chats and discussions, carefully curated by w.media’s Editor-in-Chief to bring together industry experts as friends and fellow professionals to examine the myriad challenges facing the industry today. The vibe at CenterStage is upbeat, and it takes place in a more relaxed environment to enable the free flow of innovative solutions and out-of-the-box ideas. Also at CenterStage, we honoured the most influential thought leaders in the digital infrastructure industry across South Asia by including them in the Critical Digital Infrastructure (CDI) Index and presenting them with trophies to commemorate their achievements.

Here are a few pictures from our plenary session and CenterStage:

Another exciting addition to Mumbai CDC was a series of roundtable conversations targeting a variety of sectors including but not limited to manufacturing, OTT, banking and financial services etc. This was an exclusive networking opportunity to enable more meaningful dialogue and collaboration. This year, we also featured a technology expo that showcased the latest innovations and futuristic technologies and advancements in the cloud and data center industry.

The Convention culminated in a glittering awards ceremony where w.media will honour excellence and expertise of data center providers and industry professionals from South Asia across three key areas: People, Planet and Projects.

Here’s our full list of award winners:

Hyperscale Infrastructure Leader

SBI

Data Centre Operations Team

Surajit Chatterjee Jeyakumar Janakaraj

People

Sunil Gupta

Strategic Network Infrastructure

CapitaLand Data Centre AdaniConneX

Yotta Data Services Private Limited

Supriya Raman

IBM watsonx Labs

Leader

Planet

Projects

Innovation in Data Centre Cooling

RackBank Datacenters Pvt. Ltd

Innovation in Energy-Efficiency

Teleindia Datacenter Private Limited

Sustainability in Design & Build

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

Sustainability in Operations

CtrlS Datacenters.

Data Centre Design and Build

CtrlS Datacenters

Digital Technology Inside the

National Stock Exchange of India Limited

Data Centre Innovation in Data Center

RackBank Datacenters Pvt. Ltd

Engineering for GPUaaS Innovation in Internet Exchange

DE-CIX Interwire Internet Services Pvt

(IX) Deployment

Ltd.

Innovation in Subsea Network

Henox IT And Datacenters Private

Engineering

Limited

Issue 11 |

The Race to 600kW |

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HAPPENINGS

A gathering of ‘beautiful minds’

w.media Southeast Asia & Northeast Asia Awards Ceremony and Gala Night feted the best and the brightest in the digital infrastructure industry.

By Jan Yong

O

Stellar. Virtuoso. Masterful. Distinctive. nly superlatives are good enough to describe the cohort of exceptional people who have worked very hard not because they want to win awards but because they want to push the envelope to reach the cutting edge of innovation.

‘Innovation’ is a beautiful and bold word – it speaks of limitless possibilities, of making science fiction today become practical reality tomorrow. But more than groundbreaking invention, it is about the small, incremental

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improvements to existing products, services or processes that advance our industry and push us to a future that is constantly being reimagined.

The fact is today we stand at the convergence of multiple historic breakthroughs in technology especially in artificial intelligence. Underpinning that is the digital backbone without which any progress is impossible.

And what we see here is a group of very brilliant and talented people whose dedication to sustainable, transformational and unconventional solutions knows no boundaries. They are truly the best and the brightest in our industry.

December 5, 2025, was the night that we celebrated them – the culmination of all their efforts.

It was a beautiful night to

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These awards are a reflection of that journey – a moment each year when we pause to recognise the people and projects building the digital backbone of our economies. remember, spectacularly executed, with a pervasive feel-good atmosphere in an elegant setting as winners and guests mingled and networked. This once-ina-year black-tie event saw the industry’s who’s who, top innovators and superachievers from Asia descending onto Sentosa Island in Singapore for a highlevel get-together. A reunion of sorts but also welcoming to those new to the fraternity. It was in moments like these that lifelong friendships were made, ideas born, and collaborations struck. ““Over the past seven years, w.media has built a platform that has grown exponentially across Asia Pacific, bringing together professionals from both mature and emerging markets, to share ideas, do business, and learn from one another,” said Adrian McPaul, Senior Technical Director, Cushman & Wakefield, representing the judges panel for the awards, as he delivered the welcome address. “These awards are a reflection of that journey – a moment each year when we pause to recognise the people and projects building the

HAPPENINGS

digital backbone of our economies.”

The industry is probably at the cusp of another cycle of superboom, or in a worst case scenario, organic demand in Asia could protect us against a possible global crash, opined Paul Mah, Executive Editor of w.media in his address. ”Even without taking into account AI workloads, the figures show that we need a lot more data centers simply to meet our own digital demands,” Mah said.

One thing is for sure though whichever way the tide goes, w.media’s annual awards will continue to run, regardless.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of w.media’s Cloud & Datacenter Awards, with an emphasis on the three pillars that define where our industry is headed: Projects, Planet, and People.

Every year, w.media receives close to 300 hopeful nominations, and this year was no exception. Out of that, only 10 per cent had the opportunity to stand on stage showing off our carefully crafted, sustainable trophies this year.

As the industry continues to evolve and expand, w.media looks forward to recognising more groundbreaking achievements in the years to come.

Congratulations again to all winners and nominees for their outstanding contributions to shaping the future of digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.

w.media Southeast Asia & Northeast Asia Awards 2025 winners Northeast Asia

Projects Innovation in Subsea Network Engineering

Southeast Asia Telstra International

Excellence in Digital Technology Inside the Data Centre

Castrol Shanghai Management Company

CET Electric Technology Inc.

Innovation in Internet Exchange (IX) Deployment

Shanghai new-type Internet Exchange Point Co, Ltd

Epsilon Telecommunications

Excellence in Accelerated Construction & Deployment

ZTE Corporation

Excellence in Data Centre Design and Build

GLP / rednote

PT DCI Indonesia Tbk.

Innovation in Data Center Engineering for GPUaaS

Global Switch Hong Kong

TM Global

Innovation in Data Centre Cooling

Beijing Hoyinn Technologies Co., Ltd

Vertiv

Innovation in Energy Optimization

China Mobile International & Huawei Technologies

Huawei Technologies

Innovation in Energy-Efficiency

Princeton Digital Group

Sustainability in Design & Build

Huawei Technologies

Basis Bay

Sustainability in Operations

VNET Group, Inc.

NCS Pte Ltd

Data Centre Design and Engineering Team

Dong Fong Technologies Inc

Brightray

Data Centre Market Intelligence Team

DC Byte

Cushman & Wakefield

Data Centre Operations Team

CBRE - Data Centre Solutions

DITO Telecommunity Corporation & ZTE Corporation

Planet

People

Hyperscale Infrastructure Leaders

Strategic Network Infrastructure Leaders

Rai Antonio De Jesus - ePLDT

Charmond Tsang - DCConnect Global

Maxx Wong - YTL DATA CENTER

Ravindran Mahalingam - HGC Global Communications

Jun (Young Jun) Kim - Daou Datacenter Korea

Roary Stasko - Telstra International

Mayank Srivastava - BDx Data Centers

Sandy Xiao - Bridge Data Centres

Eric Fan - Bridge Data Centres

Acknowledgements w.media extends its gratitude to our sponsors Huawei, Bridge Data Centres, Onion Technology, ZTE, GLP, and CESE2 for making the event a tremendous success.

We also want to thank Dennis Uy (CEO, Converge ICT Solutions), Steve Kim (President, Huawei Data Center Facility & Critical Power Business), Chang Cho (CEO, ONION Technology), Eric Ho (Site Selection Manager, Microsoft), and Hee Chee Kong (Head of Infrastructure, Sea Limited).

Issue Issue08 11 || The Cooling RaceInnovation to 600kW |

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YOUR STORY IS NOW HEARD BY ASIA’S LARGEST DATA CENTER COMMUNITY With a readership of top decision-makers across APAC, we’ll ensure your message reaches the right audience.

Is Your Business Ready to Take the Spotlight?

Get in touch with us today at media@w.media Scan to watch our exclusive interviews with Industry leaders.

Our Offerings Include:

Our Community at a Glance:

• Magazine – Online & Offline • Interviews - In person & Virtual • Editorial content • Newsletter Features • Digital Ad Campaigns • Annual APAC Cloud and Datacenter Awards

• 80,000+ Subscribers across APAC • 70,000+ Monthly Website Visits • 33,000+ Social Media Followers • 16,000+ Industry Decision-Makers Engaged

Celebrating Innovation, Sustainability and Leaders at the 2026 w.media Awards As we wrap up another successful Awards season, it’s time to gear up for an even stronger edition in 2026

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What’s New for 2026 After two memorable ceremonies in Singapore, the Awards will now travel to Bangkok, Thailand - a booming hub for digital stage for our annual celebration.

This year’s Gala Ceremony will also take place earlier than usual, on 27 November 2026, giving the accolades out just in time for end-of-year celebrations.

2.

Nomination Period: Opening June 2026 Get ready to nominate the outstanding achievements pushing boundaries across Asia and prepare for your nomination in June: • Your projects and initiatives must take place from 1st June 2025 – 31st May 2026.

• Detailed categories and requirements will be unveiled in due course • Entry remains free, and organizations are welcome to submit multiple nominations.

3.

Sponsorship Opportunities: Early Interest Now Open As the industry is set for an even bigger boom in 2026, landmark projects and new innovations will certainly reshape the regional landscape.

By joining early as a sponsor, your brand will be in the spotlight from the start of the nomination phase all the way through the Gala Dinner.

REACH OUT TO US NOW TO GET A HEADSTART!

Any further inquiries, please contact awards@w.media

IN-CLOSING

Will everyone really go 600kW?

By Paul Mah

W

hat will the future bring for AI? Is there, as an increasing number of people are suggesting, a massive AI bubble that is set for a spectacular crash?

This is a pertinent question in any conversation about Nvidia’s upcoming Rubin Ultra GPUs and the 600kW racks that will result. Because if AI crashes, then we will probably not see the arrival of 600kW racks anytime soon.

Or perhaps we are at the start of a supercycle unlike anything that we’ve seen before? And the “AI factories” that Nvidia keeps talking about enable new capabilities that our children will soon take for granted the way they do electricity, smartphones, and the Internet?

We’ll find out soon enough.

Of course, there are tremendous technical challenges to overcome with 600kW racks as well. In one conversation with the technical lead of a data center operator, the discussion meandered to how Rubin Ultra is

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completely unlike any of the systems that came before in terms of power density.

But wait, I asked. Aren’t they currently rolling out Grace Blackwell deployments? You mean it’s back to the drawing board for Rubin Ultra? After all, the latter will eschew air-cooling completely, switch to elevated-voltage DC, and fill up even more of the data halls with liquidcooling subsystems? Does that mean current deployments will be unsuited for Rubin Ultra?

A shrug and a smile said it all.

For data center operators, the reach towards higher densities also poses challenges in terms of customers that want some “future proofing” for upcoming AI deployments. This was highlighted by the head of data center for an agency during an informal chat after a data center tour a few months ago.

My counter? What is your budget for GPU servers? Because if it’s anything less than US$100 million, or roughly the cost of just over 30 racks of GB300, then a more traditional data center density would probably be more than adequate.

The reality is that 600kW racks will

Issue 11

be the domain of hyperscalers and the large neoclouds for the foreseeable future. Most organisations simply do not have the capital, the workloads, or the infrastructure to justify such deployments. And that’s fine. Not every data centre needs to be an AI factory.

What matters more is that operators understand the trajectory and plan accordingly. This means designing facilities with flexibility in mind: modular power and cooling systems that can be upgraded as densities increase, and the foresight to reserve space for liquid-cooling infrastructure even if it is not needed today.

There are lasting effects, though.

Just like Nvidia GPUs have accelerated the speed and scale of deployment of liquid cooling within the data centre, I expect the push to 600kW to further advance liquid cooling, as well as drive a transition to DC power at the data hall level.

Whether or not 600kW racks become mainstream, the technologies they demand will filter down. And when they do, the operators who planned ahead will be the ones best positioned to adapt.

Empowering sustainable growth through innovation and partnership.

SBTi Commitment

RE100 Member

BCA Green Mark Platinum Award

IDC ESG 30 Honouree

Setting near-term carbon-reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement.

Awarded for MY06 Campus (Building 1) in Johor, Malaysia

Driving towards 100% renewable energy across all operations by 2040.

Recognised among Asia’s most sustainable digital infrastructure leaders.

Together, we bridge the future for a sustainable digital tomorrow.

Scan to learn more www.bridgedatacentres.com

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