STT GDC Opens Greater Tokyo Data Centre at Goodman Business Park

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres launched a Greater Tokyo hyperscale facility into service this week as the Singapore-based operator’s first Japan location.

STT Tokyo 1 is the first of two buildings at STT GDC’s data centre campus in the Inzai digital hub northeast of Tokyo. Together they will support up to 70 megawatts of IT capacity, with STT Tokyo 1 providing up to 32MW when fully operational, the firm said in a release.

Operated by STT GDC at Goodman Business Park in Inzai, the facilities are being developed by and leased from Aussie builder Goodman Group, part of the Sydney-based industrial specialist’s A$13.7 billion ($9 billion) in-progress workbook across 66 projects, largely data centres.

“STT Tokyo 1 reflects the best of STT GDC’s global expertise that we are bringing to Japan — operational excellence, future-ready infrastructure, and sustainability embedded by design,” said Kiyoshi Maeda, Japan CEO at STT GDC. “As Japan’s digital transformation accelerates, this facility will offer customers the performance and reliability they need to unlock the full potential of their applications and data.”

Giant Market Gets Bigger

The launch of STT Tokyo 1 is aimed at addressing Japan’s rapidly expanding data centre market, which is projected to grow from JPY 2.74 trillion in 2023 to JPY 5.08 trillion ($34.6 billion) by 2028, according to research firm IDC.

Under the deal with STT GDC, Goodman is developing the shell and core of the two data centres and leasing the buildings on a long-term basis to the subsidiary of ST Telemedia, a portfolio company of Singapore state holding firm Temasek. STT GDC will fit out and operate the facilities, bolstering the company’s presence in seven Asia Pacific markets and 10 globally.

In February, STT GDC began construction of the first data centre at the firm’s campus in the Malaysian hotspot of Johor state, with the 16MW facility scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2026.

The groundbreaking came 14 months after STT GDC announced the Johor campus as the firm’s second project in Malaysia, following closely on the launch of a joint venture with local IT service provider Basis Bay to develop a 20MW complex in the Cyberjaya tech hub south of Kuala Lumpur.

Beyond its home market of Singapore, STT GDC’s Southeast Asian reach includes Thailand and the Philippines, where it is developing a 124MW campus in Metro Manila with local conglomerate Ayala Corp and Ayala’s telecom unit Globe. The firm entered Indonesia in June 2023 with a 72MW campus in West Java.

Serious About Server Sheds

The opening of STT Tokyo 1 comes after Goodman in February announced a A$4.4 billion equity raise as part of a plan to have 500MW of new data centre projects underway within 16 months.

Goodman broke ground on a 49.5MW Los Angeles data centre in March and filed documents for a A$1.2 billion, 90MW facility in Sydney dubbed “Project Mars” a month later.

To oversee the company’s digital infrastructure business globally, Goodman in April brought aboard Microsoft executive Kraig Knight as executive vice president for data centre operations. Knight had served as general manager of data centre central operations at the tech giant since mid-2023 after earlier working as general manager of global data centre construction.

The hire followed an 18-month data centre recruitment drive that saw Goodman add a number of digital infrastructure veterans to its team, including former Schneider Electric executive Bradley Harrower, who joined as head of customer solutions with the data centre team in Sydney in February.