Global data centre company Equinix is launching a research and testing hub for sustainable technologies in its sixth data centre, named SG6, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS)’s Centre for Energy Research & Technology (CERT).
The hub, called a co-innovation facility (CIF), is only the second in the world to be set up, following the first fully operational CIF in Washington DC launched in 2022.
The SG6 CIF will have an initial investment of US$4 million ($5.38 million) from Equinix. It will innovate and trial the integration of clean and renewable energy sources and alternative power generation, with the aim of assessing their ability to operate at scale.
This follows the announcement of the build of SG6 on Nov 19, which will be a nine-story 20 megawatt (MW) facility when fully built. SG6 will have an initial investment of $260 million, and is expected to open in 1Q2027.
SG6 was awarded as part of Singapore’s pilot Data Centre - Call for Application (DC-CFA), first announced in 2022 after a moratorium on data centre build was imposed in 2019. Four data centre operators, including Equinix were each awarded 20MW worth of build, to construct sustainable data centres in the city-state.
Equinix says its SG6 data centre facility will be covered by renewable energy, and provide liquid cooling capability to support compute-intensive workloads, including AI.
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Equinix notes that the CIF will trial sustainable innovations of four kinds.
Alternative power solutions such as fuel cells and battery storage which can provide low carbon power solutions; liquid cooling to reduce energy consumption and noise; direct current power distribution system which can enhance grid power quality and density; and digital twin capabilities which are data-driven models and machine learning to predict maintenance and upgrades.
Singapore, having announced that it will invest more than $740 million into AI over the next five years, has subsequently announced its intention to expand its data centre capacity to meet these growing computing needs.
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At the launch of Singapore's “Green Data Centre Roadmap” on May 30, deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat said that at least 300MW of data centre capacity will be added in the next few years, with another 200 MW allocated only for operators who use green energy options.
As it stands, Singapore has more than 70 data centres on the island with a total capacity of more than 1.4 gigawatt (GW).
“By replicating our successful CIF from Ashburn and expanding our collaborative efforts in the Asia Pacific region, we are reaching a significant milestone in advancing our "Future First" sustainability agenda. It will accelerate the development of cutting-edge technologies and apply real-world solutions to help reduce the carbon footprint of the growing number of data centers worldwide,” says Yee May Leong, managing director, Singapore, Equinix.
