New facility designed to propel Singapore’s economy and national sustainability goals
Supporting Singapore’s Green Plan 2030, Equinix builds its sixth International Business Exchange (IBX®) in Singapore, to be named SG6. With an initial investment of $260 million, this new facility will be covered by renewable energy and provide liquid cooling capability to support compute-intensive workloads, including AI.
SG6 will be added to Equinix’s global network of interconnected data centers, facilitating low-latency, high-bandwidth connections between AI resources and data sources, enabling efficient AI workflows across different geographic locations. This capability is particularly valuable for organizations with stringent latency requirements or those seeking to leverage AI at scale across diverse infrastructures.
Aileen Chia, Deputy Chief Executive (Connectivity Development & Regulation), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), “We welcome Equinix’s addition of SG6 to its data centre (DC) investments. As we sustain the momentum of Singapore’s digital economy which today contributes almost 18% to Singapore’s GDP, data centres are a foundational digital infrastructure supporting our Smart Nation 2.0 efforts. Equinix’s strong commitment to sustainability is aligned with our Green DC Roadmap, where we seek to accelerate DC energy efficiency and use of green energy to support the sustainable growth of Singapore’s digital economy. Singapore will continue to foster collaborations across the industry ecosystem to pioneer solutions for sustainable DC growth.”
Caption: Key industry leaders and government officials join forces to mark the beginning of a new era in digital innovation at the groundbreaking ceremony of SG6. Pictured (from left to right): Christine Wong, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Cluster Group, JTC Corporation; Pei Sheng Goh, Vice President, Digital Industry Singapore (DISG); Adaire Fox-Martin, CEO and President of Equinix; Aileen Chia, Deputy Chief Executive (Connectivity Development & Regulation) Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA); George Loh, Associate Vice President (Strategic Partnership), National University of Singapore; and Yee May Leong, Managing Director of Singapore, Equinix.
Singapore aims to leverage AI to drive innovation and economic growth and be one of the first in the world to launch an AI governance framework. The drive for technology leadership in the region also sees the nation making significant investments in quantum technology, blockchain, and edge computing. These technologies require substantial computing power and data processing resources, which has prompted the island-state to boost data center capacity with trusted and environmentally responsible suppliers to achieve these technology aspirations sustainably.
Equinix is taking significant steps towards sustainability, including the adoption of a renewable energy power purchase agreement (PPA) in Singapore with Sembcorp Industries. Other sustainability innovations include using lower carbon building materials, energy-efficient water-cooled chiller and cooling towers, rainwater harvesting capabilities and more. Equinix will offer liquid cooling technology in SG6, which is able to transfer heat more efficiently than air, to ensure effective cooling for high-power applications. The addition of this new data center will allow Equinix to support Singaporean businesses and the nation to handle AI and other high computational needs in a more sustainable manner.
As a steward of sustainability, Equinix is dedicated to driving private-public sector partnerships across Singapore and the APAC region, with the aim of paving the way for the long-term sustainability of data centers. For instance, Equinix collaborated with College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore to assess various types of alternative power supplies and their reliability, cost, operating conditions and environmental impact, to help data center companies make an informed decision when implementing alternate fuel supply systems. The company also collaborated with IMDA and Dell Technologies to provide guidance and recommendations to modernize digital infrastructure deployment sustainably and to optimize the integration and utilization between hardware and software interfaces.
Pei Sheng Goh, Vice President, Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), said, “Southeast Asia’s digital economy is expected to continue on its growth trajectory placing Singapore well for sectors such as finance, healthcare, and e-commerce. This presents immense opportunity for Generative AI advancement. We welcome Equinix’s continued commitment to Singapore as it will strengthen our capabilities to handle AI computational needs, and enhance data connectivity for both local and regional businesses to drive economic value in the region.”
Yee May Leong, Managing Director, Singapore, Equinix, said, “SG6 sets a new benchmark in our approach to driving digital and AI transformation. As compute-intensive workloads continue to grow, the demand for capacity will also rise, and Equinix is equipped to support these next-generation workloads. By integrating the latest sustainability innovations, our new AI-ready data center enables businesses to establish their digital infrastructure both responsibly and sustainably. We have always been a strong proponent of Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 and Smart Nation journeys, and grateful for the support from the government and our industry partners.”
