Singapore alliance explores ocean data centres

Data centre provider Big Data Xchange (BDx) has signed an agreement with the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Engineering and Sembcorp Marine to explore the feasibility of ocean data centres.

The three-way strategic alliance aims to address the land scarcity and energy efficiency challenges in Singapore, as well as the growing climate and sustainability challenges facing the data centre industry more broadly.

Under the memorandum of understanding, BDx will provide the data centre arrangement as well as the technical proposal and operational strategy.

The NUS Faculty of Engineering will meanwhile supply its cooling technology along with metrics for meeting relevant energy efficiency targets, while engineering solutions provider Sembcorp Marine will contribute an offshore platform solution.

Associate Professor Lee Poh Seng from the NUS Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Executive Director of the Energy Studies Institute said the project will allow the partners to evaluate the feasibility of adopting the faculty’s patented liquid cooling technology for offshore data centres.

“The growing demand for cloud computing, 5G, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things has intensified the need for high-performance data centres that can be operated in an environmentally responsible manner,” he said.

“We are pleased to study the feasibility of deploying our patented liquid cooling technology for this exciting development of offshore data centres that could be powered and cooled using seawater, the world’s most abundant resource. We look forward to working with BDx and Sembcorp Marine to bring about tangible benefits for both the digital economy and the environment.”

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