Singapore Information Technology Greening data canters

Data centers consume a great deal of energy to run servers, process and transmit data for various processes such as cyber security, cloud computing and e-commerce. This generates a lot of heat making energy and water cooling systems a necessity plus it also results in carbon emissions. Singapore currently has around 70 data centers in operation which accounts for 7% of the country’s electricity consumption. As part of Singapore’s commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, data centers are considering using hydrogen power either liquefied or gaseous as well as floating data centers from 2025 onwards. Hydrogen may help to reduce the carbon footprint of data centers but it is also important to balance the economics of building the necessary infrastructure for producing, storing and transporting hydrogen compared to other sources of energy.
 
Singapore has also launched a standard for optimizing energy efficiency of data centers in tropical climates which suggests operating at higher temperatures (above the currently widespread practice of 22°C) to reduce energy used in cooling. Trails are under way to test novel cooling techniques at a local university.

Previously, there have been no guidelines on how to raise operating temperatures in a warmer, more humid climate so this new standard will help provide a roadmap to gradually reach 26°C and above. Every 1°C increase in a data center’s operating temperature could save between 2-5% of data center cooling energy or up to 2% of total energy consumed. The standard could in the future be included in the Building & Construction Authority (BCA)’s Green Mark scheme for data centers which sets energy efficiency and sustainability benchmarks for the industry.

U.S. companies who have the expertise and experience in designing and commissioning energy efficient data centers can partner with Singapore companies to undertake new projects.

For more information, please contact Commercial Trade Specialist Mr. CHAN Yiu Kei.