Equinix: Equinix, AirTrunk, Microsoft, and GDS are chosen by Singapore for an 80MW data center experiment

As Singapore looks to end a years-long prohibition on new developments, four data center operators have been given 80MW of capacity for new facilities. Since 2019, Singapore has imposed a ban on the construction of new data centers; however, previously authorized facilities were permitted to be constructed after that date.  In July 2022, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced a pilot program enabling companies to bid for permission to construct new facilities.

This week, IMDA and EDB announced they had awarded approximately 80MW of new capacity to four data center companies.  Equinix, GDS, Microsoft, and a consortium of AirTrunk and TikTok proprietor ByteDance were the four successful operators. None of the companies have issued a statement regarding the news.

Four proposals were chosen based on their ability to provide energy-efficient performance (including liquid cooling), expand global connectivity, anchor 'key compute' capacities such as AI/ML and HPC in Singapore, and guarantee economic obligations to Singapore beyond direct data center investments. According to EDB and IMDA, there was "significant industry interest" in the pilot, with over 20 proposals submitted.

When the pilot program was introduced a year ago, it was reported that authorities would allocate approximately 60 MW of capacity for the development of data centers.