Asset manager Keppel aims to expand its data center holdings in the coming years.
Keppel’s data center portfolio currently totals 35 facilities across Europe and Asia Pacific with 650MW of power capacity. Around 220MW of the capacity is in various stages of development across the Keppel Data Centre Campus at Genting Lane in Singapore and two other newer projects in Tokyo and Taiwan, respectively. More than three-quarters of this capacity will come into service between 2024 and 2027.
Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel, said: “We are excited by the many opportunities ahead in infrastructure and the data center space. Amidst rapid digitalization, Keppel is well-positioned to meet the rising demand for AI-ready data centers from hyperscalers, with a premier portfolio of 35 data centers across Asia Pacific and Europe.”
He continued: “We aim to expand our data center portfolio at speed and scale from the current 650 MW gross power capacity to 1.2 GW in the near term, leveraging our access to multiple capital pools, power, cooling, and other important capabilities and resources within Keppel’s integrated ecosystem.”
During the company’s earnings call, Hua said Keppel was also “in the early stages” of working on a separate sleeve for European data centers with Aermont Capital.
Of the 650MW, around 70 percent is operational. The company has around 200MW of capacity in Singapore, 350MW across the rest of APAC (Australia, Japan, China, and Malaysia), and 100MW in Europe (UK, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands). 23 of those 35 facilities are owned by Keppel DC Reit, totaling 3 million sq ft; 10 are owned by Keppel and private funds, totaling 1.59 million sq ft.
The company said it had more than 500MW of near-term growth to be funded through its upcoming Keppel Data Centre Fund III and other co-investments.
During the earnings call, Hua said the company was looking at AI campuses in Malaysia, India, Japan, and Indonesia. He also confirmed that figure doesn’t include the company’s planned floating DataPark+ project, which could total more than 1GW itself.
Keppel said it aims to more than double its data center funds under management, from S$9 billion to S$19 billion, in the near term via the upcoming Data Centre Fund III as well as further co-investments. The US$2 billion Data Centre Fund III is expected to achieve its first US$300 million close by year-end.
When asked if the company will be focused on building or buying, Hua said: “Most of these data centers will be built greenfield, so we will take probably three to five years to reach that. In the meantime, if there are inorganic opportunities, we could also look at them as well.”
On partnering with Aermont, Hua added: “They are also looking at inorganic opportunities on the data center side in Europe. We will be supporting them in that regard, and have been supporting them. At the same time, I think there is an opportunity for us to work with Aermont to unlock data center opportunities in Europe from greenfield and brownfield.”
Aermont is an asset management business focused on real estate investment in Europe. To date, the company has raised European investment funds and vehicles with total equity commitments of around €13 billion. Keppel acquired a 50 percent stake in Aermont earlier this year, and is set to acquire the remaining 50 percent by 2028.
To support Singapore’s growing energy needs, Keppel also said its infrastructure division plans to double its energy supply, to 3GW, by 2030 through power generation and regional importation.
