According to Taiwan's Economic Daily News (link to Taipei Times), Google could be in talks with officials about buying land for its third Taiwanese data center.

Google and Taiwanese officials have declined to confirm the reports from several of the country's newspapers, but, also have not denied them.

Several Taiwanese publications ran with the news but their sources were not cited, according to the Taipei Times.

Supposedly, Google’s data center will be located on a plot in Yunlin County.

Yunlin Technology Industrial Zone Taiwan Street view.jpg
Yunlin Technology Industrial Zone (in 2016) – Google Street view

Third one's the charm

Google currently has two data centers in Taiwan, one in Changhua County, and the other in Tainan. If the reports are true, then Google could be investing NT$3.64bn ($123.33m) into buying a plot at an industrial park in Yunlin.

The Liberty Times, a 'sister newspaper' of the Taipei Times, said the park’s chairman, Andy Su, told them a heavyweight tech company assessed the park for its suitability.

According to the Taipei Times, a filing by the company, China Man-made Fiber, last week, said a 198,000 sq m (2,140,000 sq ft) plot, consisting of six parcels of land, was sold to Beckett Enterprises LLC. It is believed, Google could be behind the company.

Industry sources in Taiwan have told the local papers that the plot could see an investment of around NT$20bn ($680m).

Back in October 2019, Google received the assent from officials to build its second hyperscale facility in the city of Tainan, Taiwan.

Google’s first facility in Taiwan, Changhua County, cost $600m and opened in 2013, on a 15 hectare (37 acre) plot, 100km (62 miles) north of Tainan.

To offset the environmental costs of its data centers, Google is investing in various environmental projects in the country. In January 2019, Google signed a 10MW deal for a solar array in Tainan.

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