Digital Realty, Global Switch Launch New Data Centres in Singapore, Hong Kong

Asia Pacific’s server-hosting capacity got a boost on Thursday as a pair of global players announced the launch of their latest data centres in Singapore and Hong Kong.

US-based Digital Realty opened its third data centre in the city-state and 13th in APAC, a 50MW facility dubbed Digital Loyang II. Global Switch, meanwhile, reinforced its Hong Kong portfolio with the final stage of its data centre at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, adding 58MVA to bring total power capacity to 100MW.

“We have witnessed accelerating demand in this market and in addition to completing the data centre, we have also completed major fit-outs for financial services and hyperscale cloud providers,” said Global Switch chief executive John Corcoran. “We are delighted to support and contribute to maintaining Hong Kong’s position as one of the world’s leading financial centres, as well as serving the needs of the global digital economy.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing more companies to move to work from home arrangements and house-bound consumers boosting use of streaming services the world saw a 47 percent year on year sure in Internet traffic last year. In Asia Pacific that led end-users to double their uptake of data centre capacity to a record 322MW in 2020, according to recent research by CBRE.

Sustainable Design

The finished Global Switch project, spanning five buildings and 70,228 square metres (755,928 square feet), is now the largest multi-customer, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre in Hong Kong, as well as the biggest in the firm’s portfolio, the company said in a release.

The mainland Chinese-controlled firm hailed the energy-efficient and sustainable qualities of the data centre at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, built on reclaimed land in southeastern New Territories.

Designed to achieve a LEED Platinum rating, the facility has some of the latest technologies designed to minimise power consumption and reduce carbon footprint, including an elevated-temperature free cooling system and high-efficiency uninterruptible power system. Thermal storage tanks ensure continuous cooling at full load in the event of a city power failure.

According to Global Switch, customers have numerous connectivity options and can benefit from a multitude of cloud providers, ISPs, international, regional and local telecommunication providers already present in the data centre, enabling easy connection to global IP backbones.

The opening of the facility raises Global Switch’s global footprint to 428,000 square metres with an aggregate 427MVA of power supply capacity.

City-State Sweet Spot

For Singapore’s Digital Loyang II, aka SIN12, Digital Realty sought to build a gateway for its customers to strengthen their connection regionally and worldwide. The new data centre will connect with the existing SIN11 in Loyang and SIN10 in Jurong via high-speed fibres to let customers and partners subscribe to the firm’s digital platform services and easily scale their business, said Mark Smith, managing director for Asia Pacific at Digital Realty.

The firm describes SIN12 as one of the most sustainable data centres in the region, achieving a Green Mark Platinum rating from the local Building and Construction Authority. The five-storey, 34,000 square metre building features an efficient cooling system designed to minimise evaporation losses and improve water-use efficiency.

SIN12 also plans to equip turbine generators with added environmental benefits such as lower noise and better space efficiency, as well as a solar-ready roof for energy replacement.

“Our decision to open another data centre in Singapore was rather straightforward,” Smith said. He cited the country’s political stability, strong network infrastructure, conducive business environment and highly skilled talent.

Regional Movement

A recent report echoed Smith’s endorsement of data centre development in the Lion City. In its annual index of the most attractive places to build data centres, Netherlands-based design firm Arcadis ranked Singapore second in the world, trailing only the US, while Hong Kong placed a respectable 12th.

Missing the No.1 spot by a thin margin, Singapore led all markets in terms of low energy prices and high internet connectivity. Hong Kong, for its part, topped the table for ease of dealing with construction permits, earning a perfect score on the metric.

CBRE expects Asia Pacific to continue with a strong pipeline of data centre developments and expansions in the coming years, with a total of 1,500MW due for completion during the 2021-24 period, the property services firm said in a report released this week.

Further launches this year will include ST Telemedia’s 36MW Loyang data centre in Singapore and Digital Realty’s 24MW HKG11 facility in Hong Kong, CBRE said.