In 2023, Australian hyperscale data centre operator, AirTrunk, announced its entry into Malaysia with plans to develop a data centre with over 150-megawatt (MW) capacity - AirTrunk JHB1 (JHB1) campus - in Johor Bahru, located in the Johor state of Malaysia.
Spanning 10.3 hectares, JHB1 is poised to service a major cloud availability zone for AirTrunk’s customers due to rapidly increasing cloud adoption in Southeast Asia. It will offer strong domestic and international connection to regional technology hubs including Singapore, with an end-to-end cross border connection strategy.
After Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Malaysia has emerged as a hotspot for data centre investment, with its data centre market size expected to reach U$2.25 billion (S$3.06 billion) by 2028 from U$1.31 billion (S$1.78 billion) in 2022, according to a 2023 "Malaysia Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2023-2028" report from Research and Markets.
The rise in demand for cloud services, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, internet penetration, government support and conducive business environments are some of the important factors.
However, the key deciding factor driving data centre growth in Malaysia - is a reliable, continuous and fast-track electricity supply.
This is where Malaysia’s largest electricity utility and leading utility in Asia, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and its One-Stop-Centre (OSC) under its Green Lane Pathway initiative comes into play.
TNB’s OSC fast-tracks the implementation process to provide high-voltage electricity supply from the usual 36 to 48 months to an accelerated time frame of just 12 months.
AirTrunk’s head of energy and climate, Joscha Schmitz, said, “The strength of the TNB power grid was one of the main factors in our decision to enter Johor.”
“The Green Lane Pathway streamlines the grid connection and delivery process across all TNB functions, placing a customer-centric approach at the heart of the process,” Schmitz said.
“The OSC team helps in bringing together the various parts, including grid planning, technical design, commercial contracting, project delivery and all the other requirements that we encounter along the process,” he added.
Moreover, it is important to understand that Malaysia’s growth potential, local skills development, supportive investment environment and connection to other regional technology hubs such as Singapore, presents an important opportunity for data centre players like AirTrunk to support the growth of the cloud and AI in the region. All this demands an easy process to be put in place.
OSC streamlines the onboarding process for data centres
OSC provides dedicated support services of efficient and environmentally responsible solutions and streamlining the onboarding process for data centres.
TNB’s chief retail officer, Kamal Arifin A. Rahman, said it is a two-way communications channel to facilitate relations and dealings between data centre operators and a dedicated TNB team to coordinate the supply application and connection process within the main utility company.
Further to this, TNB provides round-the-clock maintenance assistance and tailored solutions to meet the requirements of each data centre. This includes avenues to acquire renewable energy sources via TNB’s solar solutions and the Malaysian government’s programme, Green Electricity Tariff (GET).
GET provides the option of green electricity coming from renewable energy supply to any electricity consumer to reduce their carbon footprint, and is a part of the nation's initiatives to achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2050.
Talking about TNB's timely supply of electricity, Schmitz said, “TNB’s ability to provide power at scale and speed, matches our business model, enabling us to complete our development successfully and focus on future growth.”
“They have guided us through the process and responded to our requirements,” he added.
TNB’s centralised platform tackles data centre sector challenges
According to Kamal, with OSC in place, TNB mitigates the challenges faced by data centre operators which involves determining the distance between the data centre and the nearest power substation; permit approvals for when the cabling route crosses over third parties’ private property, namely railway and highway companies as well as local councils.
The primary utility company also oversees the handover procedures of available land to build infrastructure and upgrades to power the data centre.
Expanding on TNB’s support, Schmitz mentions, “TNB adapted quite flexibly to the data centre requirements, and we experienced an openness to discuss challenges and find solutions, even if it meant innovating over existing approaches.”
For example, the AirTrunk team had detailed discussions with the OSC about the cable route for JHB1 and data centre requirements. Schmitz said, TNB was responsive and developed an approach together with the team on the cable route solution.
“The AirTrunk team is very involved in the planning and delivery of the grid connection for our data centres,” he said.
Additionally, TNB actively manages potential delays encountered during the surrendering process of identified land by property developers, landowners, and state authorities for the construction of infrastructure and upgrading of the existing grid and distribution network.
Leveraging the OSC, TNB gets into a position where it can effectively mitigate challenges faced by data centre operators by enhancing the comprehensiveness of electricity supply delivery within specific timeframes.
“TNB recognised the potential of hyperscale data centres as an early opportunity and proactively invested in building capabilities to serve data centre customers, such as AirTrunk,” said Schmitz.
Through the OSC, TNB has cultivated a profound understanding of the data centre sector and its distinctive requirements, he added.
Towards green data centre solutions in Malaysia
Addressing the challenges of adopting clean energy in the data centre sector, AirTrunk is incorporating sustainable innovations in JHB1 including a liquid cooling technology, which enables its customers to deploy high density racks reducing energy consumption by up to 20%.
The hyperscale data centre operator recently signed the first data centre renewable energy Virtual Power Purchase Agreement, with ib vogt an international renewable energy developer, under Malaysia’s Corporate Green Power Programme. The agreement enables AirTrunk to purchase green energy from a 29.99 MW ib vogt’s solar farm with construction scheduled to start in mid-2024.
TNB further solidified its partnership with AirTrunk in 2023 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at advancing the energy transition in Malaysia.
This collaboration entails efforts such as exploring renewable energy supply for JHB1, integrating energy storage and innovative technologies to foster green data centre operations, and researching technology roadmaps to promote 24/7 clean energy in Malaysia.
Additionally, they expanded their collaboration with an Electricity Supply Agreement to enhance the power supply at JHB1 to accommodate future expansions.
Kamal said, “TNB welcomes the opportunities in Malaysia's growing data centre sector. Our electricity infrastructure is continuously being strengthened under the Smart Grid initiative. This is aimed at unlocking Malaysia's Energy Transition ambition and ensuring reliable energy supply for our valued customers.”
