TNB to start supplying high voltage electricity to GDS’s Johor Bahru data centre in July
26 Mar 2023
Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) said it has taken steps to enable GDS IDC Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd’s data centre campus at the Nusajaya Tech Park in Johor Bahru to start operations in July through an interim supply of 16 megawatts (MW) of high voltage electricity.
“Plans are underway to ensure the increased maximum demand of 85.5MW is delivered within 2023,” the utility company said in a statement issued jointly with GDS on Sunday (March 26).
The two companies had signed the power supply agreement in October 2022. A supplemental agreement was signed on March 21 by TNB chief retail officer Kamal Arifin A Rahman and GDS chief operating officer Jamie Khoo. The ceremony was witnessed by TNB president and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Baharin Din; and GDS founder, chairman and CEO William Wei Huang.
Baharin said that through its provision of power supply, TNB is complementing the government’s foreign investment-friendly policies to nurture a healthy data centre market and help the industry achieve its business objectives.
Noting that TNB and GDS shared common goals and ambitions towards a greener future, Baharin said: “In support of GDS’s aspiration of becoming the first data centre company to achieve carbon neutrality, with 100% use of renewable energy by 2030, TNB will extend its collaboration into the provision of smart energy solutions.”
He added that the collaboration “is one of many initiatives that is accelerating the growth of the nation’s digital economy, which is further driven by the increased usage of cloud-based services, IOT (Internet of Things), big data analytics and the rapid pace of digitalisation in the region”.
Huang said that through the partnership with TNB, GDS hopes to make significant contributions to support Malaysia’s ambition in becoming a data centre hub and driving the regional digital economy.
“With TNB’s unwavering commitment in providing reliable electricity supply to our data centre campus in Johor, GDS is well-positioned to offer world-class data centre services in the region, further strengthening Malaysia’s digital infrastructure and accelerating its digital transformation and growth.
“In addition, we look forward to the collaboration with TNB in the adoption of renewable energy as part of our sustainable development efforts, such as a smart green solution,” he added.
Source: The Edge Markets
