AI-driven data centre expansion tests Asia-Pacific’s renewable energy readiness

The push to store and process data domestically will ramp up demand for data centres, which put enormous pressure on resources such as land, water and particularly energy.

According to a Moody’s report published last month, data centres in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to double in capacity by 2028.

The capacity in emerging data centre markets, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, will record growth rates of 29 per cent to 48 per cent through 2025, given their smaller existing capacities, the report said.

New entrants into the markets are likely to tap non-renewable sources of energy to meet these data centres’ massive power needs, introducing a new layer of carbon transition risks, the report added.

That does not bode well for a region that still meets the bulk of its energy needs through fossil fuels including coal, gas and diesel.

One obvious temptation for many nations could be to switch to relatively cleaner power sources such as natural gas, but climate activists say that is far from an ideal solution since they can still contribute to emissions and perpetuate reliance on fossil fuels.

So can anything be done to mitigate these data-driven emissions?

Some countries such as Australia and Singapore have mandated that new data centre capacity must adhere to certain guidelines for minimising emissions.

Singapore ended a moratorium on data centres in January 2022 but indicated that data centres within its borders must meet energy efficiency guidelines, likely translating to longer-term and higher demand for renewable energy.

While the pace of data localisation may vary from country to country, a slew of nations in the region are likely to take a leaf out of Singapore’s playbook.

The challenge,