Data centre investments in Singapore still in the doldrums 

The three-year moratorium on new developments was lifted in 2022.

Singapore’s data centre industry continued to witness muted investment activity as power constraints and limited land space push developers to look for alternative locations in its neighbours, according to a report by CBRE.

In its Asia Pacific Data Centre Trends for the first quarter, CBRE said there were very few data centre assets that changed hands since the government temporarily paused new developments in 2019. 
The three-year moratorium was lifted in 2022 but limitations were put in place to ensure sustainability, including a cap on the number of new constructions each year and requirements for efficient power and water use.

“Limited space and constraints on power supply mean development interest is spilling over to neighbouring countries, particularly Batam in Indonesia and Johor Bahru in Malaysia,” CBRE said.

Demand for rack space in the city-state has been largely driven by enterprise clients relocating from older facilities to brand-new ones. A limited supply and strong demand helped push pricing for enterprises higher in 2023. 

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CBRE expects small pockets of new data centre space for enterprise customers to go live this year, but the limited capacity will not be able to service hyperscalers. Colocation price is also estimated to stay either flat or end mix this year with the sector seen consolidating.

The property agency estimated there is currently 718 megawatts of data centre capacity in the city-state, with an additional 98 MW of IT load coming online this year through 2026.