Facebook to build data centre in Singapore

Source: Facebook's Singapore Data Center Facebook page.

Singapore's aspirations as a data centre hub just got even more vibrant with a recent Facebook announcement that its first custom-built data centre in Asia is to be sited in Singapore.

"We just announced we're building our newest data centre in Singapore. This will be our 15th data centre worldwide and our first in Asia. Our community is growing quickly and this is important infrastructure to serve everyone. Like all our data centres, this will be powered by 100% renewable energy," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO in a Facebook post on September 7.

"In the past, our concept of connectivity was simply to make sure that our air, land and sea links - the three dimensions of physical connectivity - were all top notch. But today’s technology has given us a new perspective of how we can transcend our geographical size and location. We want to connect in the non-physical dimensions to the rest of the world. That includes data, finance, technology and talent – seven dimensions in total.

"This is why Facebook’s presence is so important here. It speaks to us about enhancing our connectivity to the rest of the world, in terms of physical connectivity, in terms of the cables you are going to build. It also speaks to us about connections in terms of talent, ideas and technology. And this investment in the digital realm will help us transcend our previous constraints of geography and size. Such investments, not just from Facebook alone, but also from many other players in similar fields, will help us transcend our geography and size," noted Chan Chun Sing, Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry during the groundbreaking ceremony for the new data centre on 6 September.

"We are confident, going forward, that we will need to compete less on scale and price but to compete on the basis of our creativity and connectivity. So thank you for your investment here and making a bold statement. Our partnership will defy the odds of history - a small city state can not only survive but thrive because of our connectivity and because we are leveraging the latest technology to transcend our constraints."

Facebook said it will invest S$1.4 billion in the 170,000 sq m data centre, and anticipates that it will support hundreds of jobs.


"We selected Singapore for a number of reasons, including robust infrastructure and access to fibre, a talented local workforce, and a great set of community partners, including the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Jurong Town Corporation, both of which have helped us move this project forward.

"Singapore has also established policies that foster a business-friendly environment, including measures that support the enforcement of contracts and increase the ease of construction permitting. The World Bank recently named Singapore as the No. 1 country in Asia to do business," the company said in a statement on a dedicated Facebook page for its Singapore data centre.

Facebook added that the Singapore data centre will be designed from the ground up to be "hyper-efficient" with new features to minimise the use of water, energy and land. "Singapore is one of the most vibrant and modern technology hubs in Asia. However, it presents a new set of efficiency challenges due to its high temperatures and humidity. To address these and other unique operational requirements, including building in a dense, urban environment, we came up with a new design and way to build this facility," said Jay Parikh, VP of Infrastructure Engineering, Facebook.

"In late August, we announced our commitment for our data centres to be powered by 100% renewable energy by the end of 2020, and this facility will be powered by 100% renewable energy. We are also working to accelerate the development of new solar resources in Singapore," Parikh said.

The data centre will be the first to incorporate the new StatePoint Liquid Cooling system. The technology makes use of evaporative cooling and can reduce the amount of water needed by 20% in tropical climates like Singapore’s.

When compared to other facilities in the region, the data centre will be extremely efficient with an annual power usage effectiveness* (PUE) rating of 1.19. The lower the number, the more energy-efficient the data centre, with 1 being the ideal goal.

US-based Fortis Construction, which has an office in Singapore, will act as the general contractor because of its joint experience with Facebook in building efficient data centres. The facility will cover 11 storeys in a building design specifically tailored to Singapore, Facebook said. The building façade is to be made of a perforated lightweight material that allows airflow and provides glimpses of the equipment inside. According to Parikh, the amount of concrete that Facebook will use for the data centre weighs 430,000 tons, roughly equivalent to 20 of the main towers supporting the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Chan observed, "In one project, we are trying to overcome two challenges. How do we compress the data centre and make it both less land intensive as well as less energy intensive compared to all the other data centres? We have heard your idea of turning a horizontal data centre into a vertical stack and in the whole process achieve greater energy and operational efficiency. That excites me personally.

"Because we know, that while we may not be the data centre of the world, but in order to be part of the data value chain, from processing, analytics, storage, to security and intellectual property, we need a certain amount of connectivity and a certain number of data centres to be present in Singapore. So this project is exciting, not just because it is a data storage centre but it is one that breaks new ground in the area of land utilisation and energy consumption."


Data centres are typically built over a large area rather than vertically, though there have been exceptions. Singtel's DC West data centre is seven storeys high, for example. In 2017, Huawei, the Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and Keppel Data Centres announced a two-year strategic collaboration to explore the technical feasibility of a first-of-its-kind high-rise green data centre building.

*PUE is defined as the ratio of the total power consumed by a data centre to the power consumed by the IT equipment that populates the facility.