GDS Holdings Limited announced the first step in the expansion of its platform to South East Asia with plans to develop a hyper-scale data centre campus in Johor, Malaysia. In line with this, the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire greenfield land in the Nusajaya Tech Park, Johor, immediately adjacent to Singapore.
According to the initial design, the company intends to develop the site into a data centre campus comprising a total net floor area of approximately 22,500 square metres, with 54 MW of total IT power capacity. With an IT power capacity of 18 MW, the first phase of the development 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,” William Huang, chairman and CEO. of GDS, said “Our home market Chinese customers see great potential for digital transformation in Malaysia and the South East Asia region. They are strongly supportive of our development strategy.”
The site is located to meet regional demand due to its proximity to the fast-growing city of Johor Bahru and the established data centre hub in Singapore. Given the limited supply of new data centre capacity in the area, it will be highly marketable to hyper-scale customers, in particular to the company’s existing Chinese customers seeking to expand their presence in Malaysia and Singapore.
“We are thrilled to welcome this investment from GDS and the data centre expertise they bring to Johor,” Dato’ Haji Hasni bin Mohammad, chief minister of Johor, said. “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.”