Data Centre Week: 23 October 2026 — What Operators Need to Know
This week in APAC data centres
- Malaysia’s draft Digital Infrastructure Bill would require operators to pay for reserved but unused power, with the nation’s 45 sites currently drawing 1.37GW against 6GW of committed load (W.Media).
- Sea Ltd has launched Sea Cloud, an AI cloud service for external enterprises, after 500 staff spent two years rebuilding its internal platform (DatacenterDynamics).
- Aolani is targeting up to 580MW of Tier III AI capacity in Malaysia by end of 2027, up from 80MW committed this year, with first sites opening from H2 2027 (Malay Mail).
- NTT Data is in final talks to build Anthropic’s first Japan data centre in Osaka with up to 500MW power intake and a potential cost of 1 trillion yen, with partial operations from 2028 (Reuters/Nikkei).
This week’s data centre news paints a picture of rapid AI-driven expansion across Southeast Asia and Japan, tempered by new regulatory scrutiny and heightened focus on resource efficiency. Malaysia’s incoming rules tighten operator oversight on power and water, while Singapore-founded firms and international players race to build AI capacity, each seeking renewable energy solutions to meet sustainability demands.
What do Malaysia’s proposed data centre rules mean for operators in Johor?
W.Media
Malaysia’s draft Digital Infrastructure (Data Centre) Bill, due before Cabinet in 2027, would charge operators for reserved but unused power, pass transmission upgrade costs to developers and make them account for their own water use, W.Media reports, with 45 operating sites drawing about 1.37GW against 6GW of committed load.
What this means for your operations: Pay for reserved power and you need to know exactly what each rack draws. Metered rack PDUs and DCIM capacity reports become the evidence behind every commitment, and Singapore operators moving into Johor should expect the same scrutiny IMDA licensing now brings at home.
Why is Sea launching its own AI cloud business out of Singapore?
DatacenterDynamics
Sea Ltd, owner of Shopee and Garena, has set up Sea Cloud to sell AI cloud services to outside enterprises after about 500 staff spent two years rebuilding its in-house platform, DatacenterDynamics reports from a staff email filed with the SEC.
What this means for your operations: Another local GPU cloud means more dense AI racks in leased halls across the region. At that scale, remote console access and an out-of-band path that works when the production network fails save costly site visits.
How much AI capacity is Aolani planning in Malaysia?
Malay Mail
Singapore-founded neocloud Aolani has signed non-binding letters of intent for up to 500MW of Tier III AI capacity in Malaysia from the second half of 2027, and projects up to 580MW there by 2027, up from about 80MW committed this year, per its announcement in Malay Mail.
What this means for your operations: Capacity this size arrives in phases, and each phase needs power monitoring and remote management from day one. Hosts bidding for these deployments should put per-outlet metering and secure remote access in the hall spec, not bolt them on later.
How is Akamai sourcing renewable power for its Singapore operations?
DatacenterDynamics
Akamai has signed a virtual PPA with EDP APAC for 13MWp of rooftop solar across 27 operating Singapore sites, generating up to 17,000MWh a year, its first renewable deal in Asia-Pacific, DatacenterDynamics reports.
What this means for your operations: Solar contracts help carbon reporting but do not cut what a hall consumes. Under Singapore’s new licensing regime, which includes PUE standards, rack-level IT load measurement proves efficiency, and DCIM turns that data into a report the regulator accepts.
What would a 500MW Anthropic data centre in Osaka mean for Japan’s market?
The Star (Reuters)
NTT Data is in final talks to build Anthropic’s first Japan data centre, an Osaka site with up to 500MW of power intake costing up to 1 trillion yen (about US$6.3 billion), with partial operations possible from 2028, Reuters reports citing Nikkei; neither company has confirmed it.
What this means for your operations: A 500MW campus would pull power equipment, engineers and lead times away from other APAC projects. If you have 2027 to 2028 refresh or expansion plans, place rack power and KVM orders early.
As Malaysia tightens regulations on power and water whilst AI capacity races across Southeast Asia and Japan, precise infrastructure monitoring and management becomes mission-critical. Contact eNOVA Technologies today to learn how our Raritan PDUs, Adder and G&D KVM systems, ZPE out-of-band management, Sunbird DCIM and VuWall monitoring solutions help operators optimise resource efficiency, ensure uptime compliance and scale confidently across multi-site APAC deployments: https://enova.sg/contact/
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Malaysia’s new Digital Infrastructure Bill mean for my data centre’s operating costs?
The draft bill, due before Cabinet in 2027, introduces three key cost pressures: charges on reserved but unused power capacity, mandatory payment of transmission network upgrade costs, and responsibility for your own water accounting and consumption charges. Operators currently have 6GW of committed load against only 1.37GW in actual use, making the unused power charges potentially significant for the sector.
Why are data centre operators investing in virtual power purchase agreements for solar?
Virtual PPAs allow operators to source renewable energy without owning the physical infrastructure, helping meet sustainability targets and reduce grid-dependent power costs whilst avoiding capex and site constraints. Akamai’s recent 13MWp rooftop solar deal across Singapore sites, generating up to 17,000MWh annually, exemplifies how operators can decarbonise multiple locations through a single renewable agreement.
What is the difference between Tier III and standard data centre capacity certifications?
Tier III data centres guarantee 99.99% uptime availability and provide redundancy in all physical infrastructure components, including power and cooling systems, making them suitable for mission-critical AI and enterprise workloads. Aolani’s Malaysia expansion specifically targets Tier III AI capacity, indicating the market’s demand for high-availability infrastructure to support demanding machine learning applications.
How quickly can new AI data centre capacity come online in Malaysia and Osaka?
Malaysia’s Aolani projects first sites opening in the second half of 2027 with full build-out to 580MW by end of 2027, whilst Anthropic’s NTT Data Osaka facility targets partial operations from 2028 with up to 500MW capacity. Both timelines reflect the long lead times required for power infrastructure provisioning and construction in APAC, even as regional AI demand accelerates.
What does Sea Cloud’s launch signal about data centre operator diversification?
Sea Ltd’s new AI cloud service, built after two years of internal platform development, shows major regional tech operators are monetising proprietary infrastructure and expertise by offering cloud services to external customers. This strategy leverages existing data centre assets and operational knowledge whilst generating new revenue streams in the high-demand AI services market.
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.
