Cli Develop First Data Centre Japan Total Investment 9443 Mil
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CapitaLand Investment (CLI) has recently acquired a freehold land parcel in Osaka, Japan for the development of its first data centre in the country. With an investment of over US$700 million or $944.3 million, this development will contribute a power capacity of 50 megawatts (MW).
The data centre, according to CLI, will be equipped to support artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and will incorporate energy-saving solutions, such as cutting-edge cooling technologies and industry-leading temperature management practices. Additionally, the centre will exclusively utilize products with zero ozone depletion potential or with a global warming potential (GWP) of less than 100, in order to minimize its environmental impact.
Manohar Khiatani, senior executive director of CLI and head of the group’s data centre business, has stated that the acquisition is in line with the group’s digitalization investment theme and will further enhance its geographical reach, expanding its presence in Japan. Khiatani goes on to say that CLI’s strong financial standing allows it the privilege of investing strategically in top-quality assets, including data centres for its future private funds. Japan is a Tier 1 data centre market, and Khiatani believes it is poised for tremendous growth.
Estimations suggest that the Japanese data centre market will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%, expanding from US$23.8 billion in 2023 to US$38.7 billion in 2038. Japan is also the largest data centre market in the Asia Pacific region outside of China, with a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts, as highlighted by Khiatani.
He adds, “With major cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle already establishing their presence in Osaka, our acquisition is well-positioned to capture the growing demand in this established data centre cluster.”
CLI’s managing director of private funds (data centre), Michelle Lee, has also chimed in, stating that the demand for data centres is expected to grow at a double-digit rate, outpacing the supply of new data centres. There is a strong interest from institutional investors in data centre investments, with 97% of them planning to increase their overall investment in this sector, according to Lee.
She adds, “Since October 2020, CLI has raised US$600 million for its data centre development funds in Asia and is committed to identifying attractive investment opportunities for its private fund investors.”
CLI has recently added 23 data centres to its global portfolio and has a combined total of 27 data centres across Asia and Europe, amounting to around 800 MW of power and $6 billion of assets under management. On February 3, shares in CLI closed 4 cents lower or 1.63% at $2.42.
