EDB and IMDA supporting digital economy and sustainability goals
Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have announced the awarding of approximately 80 MW of new capacity to four data centre operators through the pilot Data Centre – Call for Application (DC-CFA) exercise. This move is part of Singapore’s commitment to enable the growth of data centres (DCs) to support the digital economy while prioritizing sustainability and climate change commitments.
The pilot DC-CFA exercise aimed to facilitate the sustainable building of new data centre capacity, emphasizing energy efficiency, decarbonization, international connectivity, and contributions to Singapore’s broader economic objectives. Over 20 proposals were received, and the following companies have been provisionally awarded capacity:
- AirTrunk-ByteDance (Consortium)
- Equinix
- GDS
- Microsoft
These four proposals stood out for their holistic ability to meet desired outcomes and competitive propositions to strengthen Singapore’s position as a regional hub. Key highlights include adopting state-of-the-art technologies for sustainability, achieving energy-efficient performance with Green Mark DC Platinum Certification, expanding international connectivity, and anchoring key compute capacities such as AI/ML and High-Performance Compute in Singapore.
The awarded operators have committed to significant economic contributions to Singapore beyond their direct investments in data centres. This demonstrates their confidence in the country’s technology ecosystem and their commitment to sustainable growth in the industry.
Moving forward, EDB and IMDA will engage industry stakeholders to allocate more capacity over the next 12 to 18 months, ensuring Singapore’s position as an innovative, sustainable, and global digital hub. A roadmap will be developed in collaboration with the industry to promote the development of Green DCs with lower carbon emissions in line with Singapore’s net-zero targets. The agencies will also focus on engaging stakeholders to build the necessary compute and connectivity infrastructure for a competitive AI ecosystem.
The pilot DC-CFA exercise has showcased the industry’s commitment to sustainable growth and confidence in Singapore’s value proposition as a leading technology hub. The continuous collaboration between government agencies and industry stakeholders will drive the development of a resilient and future-ready digital infrastructure that supports Singapore’s digital economy and sustainability goals.
