Data centre development in Malaysia is now seen to be gaining momentum, especially in locations such as Selangor and Johor where demand for such infrastructure is seen to be increasing. Most recently, through a Bernama report, the Johor government appears to have approved 42 data centre developments in the second quarter of this year alone.
This was confirmed by Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor, Chairman of the Johor Housing and Local Government Ministry Committee, who said that these data centres are the main drivers for the Johor-Singapore Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) project, the Johor Digital Plan and also the state's economic transformation plan.
The statement was made after a meeting of the Johor Data Centre Development Task Force which was also co-chaired by Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh, chairman of the Johor Public Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee.
For these 42 data center development projects, a total of 7618 acres of industrial land with planned status has been provided, including ASM Green, Rising Gateway, Iskandar Halal Hub, Kosmo and Keck Seng under the Pasir Gudang City Council.
Mohd Jafni also said that the committee is considering applications to build seven more data centers in the Greater Johor Bahru area before deciding whether to approve them or not.
The Johor government will also reportedly limit the development of data centers in areas such as the Johor Bahru City Council and Iskandar Puteri to reduce the likelihood of conflicts with the development of new housing areas in those locations.
He also said that Johor will be the first state in Malaysia to use Tier 4 data center technology that uses a cooling system that uses treated sewage water in a collaboration between Indah Water Consortium and Johor Special Water.