Sydney-based AirTrunk opens data centre in Johor
30 Jul 2024
Johor is experiencing strong interest from data centre providers, with more companies either considering establishing new facilities in the state or launching projects they have been developing over the past one to two years.
AirTrunk, a specialist in hyperscale data centres for the Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) region, has launched its operations in Malaysia with the opening of AirTrunk JHB1, a flagship 150-megawatt (MW) hyperscale data centre located in Johor Bahru.
The opening ceremony was attended by Liew Chin Tong, the deputy minister of Investment, Trade and Industry; Lee Ting Han, chairman of the Johor State Investment, Trade, and Consumer Affairs Committee; and Danielle Heinecke, Australia’s High Commissioner to Malaysia.
Spanning over 10.3 hectares, JHB1 provides both domestic and international connections to regional technology hubs, including Singapore, through an end-to-end cross-border connection strategy.
In a statement, AirTrunk noted that the development was completed with over four million work hours without any major safety incidents.
The initial phases of JHB1 will offer over 50 MW of capacity to its large technology customers.
IThe new facility boasts an AI-ready design and includes AirTrunk’s first deployment of direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology alongside traditional indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) and high-density racks.
AirTrunk’s founder and chief executive officer Robin Khuda, said that the swift and safe delivery of JHB1 marks a significant step in advancing AI adoption in Malaysia and reinforces the company’s growth as a trusted partner for customers across the APJ region.
“Through our long-term investment in Malaysia, we are able to support our customers as they grow at speed and implement groundbreaking solutions like liquid cooling, at scale, in order to catalyse sustainable cloud and AI development,” he said.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that 13 companies are either in discussions or already in the planning stages for investing in Johor.
Lee Ting Han, chairman of the Johor State Investment, Trade, and Consumer Affairs Committee, said that the Federal government has approved RM144 billion in data centre investments across the country over the past two years.
Of this amount, Johor has received RM90 billion, he said in May during the opening of the Equinix JH1 facility at Nusajaya Tech Park.
Source: NST
