Resource-hungry data centres must tap alternative water sources to ease pressure on the public water supply, Malaysia’s water regulator has warned, as the Southeast Asian nation lures firms seeking cheaper land outside neighbouring Singapore to set up operations.
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Malaysia wants to become Asia’s data centre hub, offering land incentives and resources to feed the energy-intensive facilities.
Data centres store the vast amounts of information needed to power everything from e-commerce and cloud computing to AI and are a crucial piece of digital infrastructure.
But Malaysia’s data centre push has put a strain on resources with demand for water exceeding capacity, according to the National Water Services Commission.
The commission said it had approved less than 18 per cent of water applications for the 101 data centres operating across Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor in the peninsula’s south over risks of using treated water supply meant for the public.
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“This is a result of insufficient supply of water to facilitate these data centres. Hence, alternative resources must be considered,” commission chairman Charles Santiago told a news conference on Monday.