Kuching will have six artificial intelligence (AI) – driven data centres in the coming years as Zecon builds up Kota Petra Green Technology Park (KPGTP).
The massive technology park which is part of a 3,000-acre facility will have a 300MW solar far and state-of-the-art Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
According to an article by New Sarawak Tribune, the park is owned by Zecon Berhad (Zecon), with the Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Berhad (SDEC) facilitating the acceleration of digital technology and telecommunications services, and Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak Sdn Bhd (CENTEXS) providing capacity building through industry-based training and technology testbeds.
The company is also planning to build two new bridges across the Santubong and Serai rivers with the estimated total capital expenditure for the project reaching RM900 million.
Zecon had also entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei Technology (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd for advancing green technology and sustainable solutions, and China Energy International Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, for renewable energy projects and green technology development both at the Kota Petra Green Technology Park.
Location of Kuching data centres
The article further elaborates that the Kota Petra Green Technology Park is located next to the Demak Laut Industrial Park and Senari Port.
It is approximately 7KM from Kuching’s city centre, making it reachable to nearby sea ports and airports.
The area of the data centres has been granted Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status by the Sarawak government.
DataCenterMap shows that there are 73 data centres in Malaysia, with the only one in East Malaysia located in Labuan.
Return of investment
Borneo Post reported that the data centre will create 10,000 jobs during the construction phase, including 4,300 direct jobs.
The development alone is estimated to generate RM12 billion, with a direct annual GDP contribution of at least RM1.7 billion.
It is also noted that the 300MW solar far and state-of-the-art Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will help reduce Kuching, and Sarawak’s carbon footprint as well.
What is a data centre?
According to cisco, a data center is a physical facility that organizations use to house their critical applications and data.
A data center’s design is based on a network of computing and storage resources that enable the delivery of shared applications and data.
Key components of a data center design include routers, switches, firewalls, storage systems, servers, and application-delivery controllers.
Data centres are important as they are designed to support business applications and activities that include email, file sharing, productivity applications, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and databases, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, virtual desktops, communications and collaboration services.
