Data Centre Week: 9 October 2026 — What Operators Need to Know
This week in APAC data centres
- Singapore Parliament passed the Digital Infrastructure Bill on 7 October, making IMDA licensing mandatory for any data centre with 3MW or more critical IT load (W.Media).
- Malaysia’s electricity demand is now growing by up to 10% a year, while new power plants take five years to build against data centre connection timelines of 18 to 24 months (Energy Commission, via W.Media).
- AirTrunk secured a ¥191.6 billion (US$1.24 billion) green refinancing loan to add over 100MW capacity to its Tokyo TOK1 campus, targeting growth beyond 300MW (W.Media).
- Linux Foundation launched OpenGrid to accelerate grid planning standards, with 2,500GW of generation, storage and large-load projects globally waiting in connection queues (W.Media).
Singapore made data centre licensing law this week, and Malaysia’s regulator admitted the grid cannot keep pace with demand. Money is still pouring into new capacity across APAC, but power and compliance are now what decide how fast it gets built.
Which Singapore data centres must now be licensed under the Digital Infrastructure Bill?
W.Media
Parliament passed the Digital Infrastructure Bill on 7 October: any data centre with 3MW or more of critical IT load now needs an IMDA licence, with cyber security, business continuity and incident reporting duties attached.
What this means for your operations: Licensed sites must prove to IMDA they can stay up and report outages, so expect auditors to ask for power logs, remote access records and recovery runbooks. Rack-level PDU metering and a separate out-of-band management network make that evidence far easier to produce.
Why is Malaysia’s grid struggling to keep up with data centre demand?
W.Media
Energy Commission chief executive Siti Safinah Salleh said electricity demand is growing by up to 10% a year (up from 1.5% to 2%), while data centres want power within 18 to 24 months and new plants take five years or more.
What this means for your operations: Operators with Malaysian capacity should plan for phased power delivery, not full contracted load on day one. Knowing actual draw per rack through intelligent PDUs and DCIM is what lets you stagger demand without leaving space idle.
How big is AirTrunk’s new financing for its Tokyo campus?
W.Media
AirTrunk closed a ¥191.6 billion (about US$1.24 billion) green loan from 12 banks to refinance debt and add more than 100MW to its TOK1 campus, which can grow beyond 300MW.
What this means for your operations: Green loans usually carry reporting conditions, so energy and PUE data must be measured, not estimated. The same pressure is reaching smaller colocation and enterprise sites across APAC that raise money to expand.
What does DayOne’s Nasdaq IPO filing reveal about Southeast Asian data centre growth?
TechNode Global
Singapore-based DayOne filed for a Nasdaq listing, disclosing 4.6GW of capacity across 10 markets, 2.3GW of confirmed bookings, and H1 2026 revenue of US$512 million against a US$77.2 million net loss.
What this means for your operations: A regional pipeline this large means more sites run with few staff on the floor. Remote KVM access and out-of-band console management become standard kit for anyone running equipment across several markets.
What is the Linux Foundation’s OpenGrid project and why does it matter for data centres?
W.Media
The Linux Foundation launched OpenGrid, an open standards and data effort to speed up grid planning, citing 2,500GW of generation, storage and large-load projects waiting in connection queues worldwide.
What this means for your operations: Grid connection, not land, now holds up new data halls in most APAC markets. Until queues shorten, getting more from the power you already have, through accurate rack-level monitoring and capacity planning, is the fastest way to add compute.
New licensing rules and tight power both come down to knowing what is happening in your racks and being able to reach them when things go wrong. Talk to eNOVA about Raritan metered PDUs, Sunbird DCIM, ZPE out-of-band management and Adder or G&D KVM for your site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Singapore data centres need an IMDA licence under the new Digital Infrastructure Bill?
Any data centre with 3MW or more of critical IT load must now obtain an IMDA licence under the Bill passed on 7 October 2026. Licensed operators must put cyber security and business continuity processes in place and notify IMDA of prescribed incidents. Separate thresholds apply to major colocation and cloud sites (10MW) and large cloud providers.
Why is Malaysia unable to meet data centre power demand growth?
Electricity demand in Malaysia is growing by up to 10% annually, while data centre operators require power connections within 18 to 24 months; however, new power generation plants take five years or more to construct and come online. The Energy Commission says this gap between demand and build time is the main strain on Malaysia’s grid.
What should IT managers prioritise for IMDA compliance in Singapore?
Facilities must establish documented cyber security protocols, business continuity and disaster recovery plans, and incident reporting procedures that meet IMDA standards. Detailed requirements will follow in subsidiary legislation and Codes of Practice, so a sensible first step is checking that power, access and incident logs are already being captured.
How does the Linux Foundation’s OpenGrid project help data centre operators?
OpenGrid is an open standards and data initiative from the Linux Foundation that adds an interoperability layer and shared datasets to grid planning tools. With 2,500GW of generation, storage and large-load projects waiting in connection queues globally, faster grid planning could shorten the wait for new data centre power.
What is driving data centre investment in Tokyo and Southeast Asia despite power constraints?
Regional operators like AirTrunk are securing large-scale green financing (¥191.6 billion for Tokyo’s TOK1 campus expansion) and filing for public markets (DayOne’s Nasdaq IPO disclosed 4.6GW across 10 markets), showing that investors still back long-term demand. Power availability and new regulation are what now set the pace of expansion.
Published by
eNOVA Technologies is Singapore's specialist distributor for data centre IT management solutions, representing Adder, Guntermann & Drunck, Raritan, Sunbird, ZPE Systems, and VuWall across Singapore and Southeast Asia. Our technical content is produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our in-house team before publication.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by the eNOVA Technologies team. All technical claims are verified against manufacturer documentation.
