GDS is to build a hyperscale data center in Johor, Malaysia.
The Chinese data center firm has acquired greenfield land in the Nusajaya Tech Park, Johor, immediately adjacent to Singapore, from CapitaLand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
GDS plans to develop a 22,500 sqm (242,200 sq ft), 54MW hyperscale campus on the land. The first phase of development, which will have 18MW of capacity, is expected to be completed in ‘early 2024.’
“We are very excited to take the first major step in the execution of our regionalization plan with this strategically located project in Johor,” said William Huang, GDS Chairman and CEO. “Our home market Chinese customers see great potential for digital transformation in Malaysia and the South East Asia region.”
The company said the site will be ‘highly marketable’ to hyperscale customers due to the limited supply of new data center capacity in the region, especially for ‘GDS’s existing Chinese customers looking to expand in Malaysia and Singapore.’
Singapore has an ongoing moratorium on new data center development, and Johor is located close to the city-state on the opposite side of the Johore Strait. In 2018 Singapore’s Keppel Data Centres Holding (KDCH) and Alpha Data Centre Fund (Alpha DC Fund) announced they were developing a hyperscale campus in Johor for a cloud customer.
Nusajaya Tech Park is spread over 210 hectares and will provide 836,100 sqm (9 million sq ft) of business space when fully built out. Current customers include manufacturer Dai-ichi Seiko Group, Telekom Malaysia, UK defense firm GKN Aerospace, and Stern-Wywiol Gruppe.
“We are thrilled to welcome this investment from GDS and the data center expertise they bring to Johor,” said Dato’ Haji Hasni bin Mohammad, Chief Minister of Johor. “Their presence in the Nusajaya Tech Park is the perfect complement to our agenda to drive development in digital transformation and solidifying Johor's strategic location as a hub for regional growth.”
