In the digital age we live in today, technology companies dominate much of the limelight. Most of us are familiar with the giant social media and e-commerce platforms we use daily. We’ve also gotten used to “smarter” everything – from our phones and coffee machines to cars and entire buildings.
The companies we work for are increasingly migrating to the cloud as they onboard new tech solutions and incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).
If we think of these platforms as the face of the tech industry, data centres would be its backbone – doing the heavy lifting by collecting, storing and managing essential data – enabling the digital economy.
Insatiable demand for data centres
In 2021, the global data centre market size was valued at US$193 billion. It is estimated to nearly triple to US$554 billion by 2030. Singapore, as the top data centre market in the APAC region, is poised to benefit from this secular growth.
However, data centres require a substantial amount of energy to keep operations running smoothly. In 2020, data centres accounted for 7% of the total energy consumption in Singapore. Nearly 40% of the energy used is simply for cooling purposes.
With the rising importance and visibility of the sector, those who act the fastest and improve sustainability stand to benefit, especially as ESG impacts are top-of-mind for governments and leading companies.
