The meteoric expansion of Data Centres is creating many issues around the world, not only due to the land size demanded but also the power demand on local grids and the water necessary for cooling the systems.

The global  leader in DC sites is the USA and consequently they are facing these set up challenges before other countries. The U.S. accounts for approximately 4,088 facilities, which is more than 8 times the number of its nearest competitor, Germany (507). Recently a State Government in USA approved the conversion of 800 acres from farmland use to commercial for a new DC. Many States have blocked new DC projects because of the perceived negative impact on local communities.

Connaught’s new focus group reviews and summarizes the Ecosystem of Data Centres from a finance point of view and environmental perspective.

Data Centre Market

Ecosystem

DC Operators NScale BDx GDS Holdings (China) VNET Group China, Chinadata Group   Equipment Suppliers New Sunpln (China) Nvidea (USA) Cerabras (USA) AMD, (USA) SK Hynix,(Korea) Samsung (Korea)

Hyperscalers Meta Amazon Google Cloud, Tik Tok, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent, Baidu AI Cloud, ByteDance Oracle Open AI AirTrunk   Enterprise Operators Governments, Banks, Global corporations

 

• United States Dominance: The U.S. accounts for approximately 4,088 facilities, which is more than 8 times the number of its nearest competitor, Germany (507).
• European Cluster: Germany, the United Kingdom, and France maintain a tight grouping in the top five, reflecting the density of the FLAP-D (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin) data center corridor.
• Asian Growth: China, India, and Japan continue to scale rapidly, with China reaching $369$ hyperscale and colocation facilities to support its domestic tech ecosystem.
• Emerging Hubs: Countries like Indonesia (185) Malaysia (54) Brazil (204) are showing significant growth as regional hubs for Southeast Asia and South America respectively.
• There are currently over 11,000 active data centers worldwide.

Global Spread of DC’s

Restrictions on Site Locations

1. Power Availability: The "Substation" Bottleneck. Projects we are working on use between 64 and 350 racks of GPU’s (mostly Nvidia) for 64 racks we need 7.5MW to 10 MW (equivalent to18,000 homes) for 350 racks we need 55MW.
There are often wait times to get access to any grid and this can be as long a 4 years if the grid is congested and has the capacity.
Proximity to Substations: A 5 MW draw often requires being within a few miles of a high-voltage substation to avoid expensive trenching and power loss during transmission.
In summary, considerations need to cover:
Available Capacity
Grid Connection Timeline
Power Quality – does the site have Active Power Filters
Redundancy (is there just one substation or two in area)

2. Cooling Infrastructure (Water vs. Air): The Humidity/Heat Problem: If you place 64 AI racks in a hot, humid climate (e.g., Southeast Asia) the cooling costs become extreme. Liquid cooling means that a site must have a reliable water source. In some sites in USA and Europe the government is denying permits to DC’s as they consume such high levels of water. Some GPU’s cannot be cooled by air alone and must have water cooling.
Orale announced (April 2026) an expanded collaboration with Bloom Energy to deploy 2.45 gigawatts in New Mexico— the equivalent of two or three nuclear reactors — of fuel cell generators alongside the DC complex. Fuel cells are one of several energy sources hyperscalers have adopted to supplement grid power in areas where local utilities either can't or won't meet demand on their own.
Summary Problems Facing DC Site Locations
The above points show the initial questions that need to be answered for a site location.
In the USA, where the majority of global sites are located, State Governments are declining the permits for new DC development due to the huge pressure placed on their grid and water supply. This in turn is driving companies such as Oracle to find new sources of cooling.
But in Asia, countries such as Malaysia are fast tracking DC approvals reducing time to build from 4 years to 12 months.

DC Growth in Asia.

Country	No. of DC Sites
Malaysia	125
Thailand	42
Vietnam	28
China	369
Australia	270
Indonesia	184
Philippines	41

Projects and Completed DC’s in Malaysia

AirTrunk - Opened its JHB1 campus in 2024 (150MW) and is expanding further in 2026.
YTL Data Center - Building a massive 500 MW solar-powered green campus in Kulai, Johor.
GDS Holdings - A major developer in Johor, catering specifically to high-density AI and Chinese tech firms.

Major Institutional Co. in Malaysia

Institution	Investment in MY
Oracle	$6.5 billion
Tik Tok (ByteDance	$8 billion
Day One Data Centre	$7 billion
Google / Microsoft	Billions

As of early 2026, Malaysia has solidified its position as the fastest-growing data center hub in Southeast Asia, largely serving as the primary "overflow" market for Singapore.

There are currently 54 existing operational data center facilities in Malaysia, with an additional 55 to 60 projects in various stages of planning or construction.

1. Key Statistics (2026 Estimates)

• Total Facilities: 54 operational, 55+ upcoming.
• Total Power Capacity: Currently ~1,025 MW, projected to double to 2,100 MW by the end of 2026.
• Market Value: Estimated at $6.55 billion for 2026.

VIETNAM AS A DATA CENTRE LOCATION.

There are a number of DC’s in Vietnam. The following three are high density operation.

Project Name	Lead Entity	Scale / Focus
Vietnam Data Gen (VDG)	Create Capital + Haimaker.ai	$1B investment for a nationwide AI network, starting in Da Nang.
Tan Phu Trung AI Campus	Kinh Bac City (KBC) + AIC	200MW capacity designed for training large-scale AI models.
Ho Chi Minh AI Factory	G42 Consortium	A $2B proposal for high-density GPU clusters.

In addition the three main domestic operators are:

These companies dominate the market through massive real estate holdings and existing telco infrastructure.

Viettel IDC: The market leader (~28% share).

• Key Asset: Recently opened the Viettel Hoa Lac 2 (Hanoi) and is constructing a 140MW Hyperscale DC at Tan Phu Trung (HCMC), designed for 10,000 racks.

VNPT (Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications):

• Key Asset: Operates a nationwide network including large centers in Nam Thang Long (Hanoi) and Tan Thuan (HCMC), totaling over 10,000 $m^2$ of floor space.

FPT Telecom:

• Key Asset: Operates the FPT Fornix centers. In early 2026, FPT partnered with G42 (UAE) and Viet Thai Group to build three new AI-ready data centers to host regional "Intelligence Grids."

News articles

New Sunpln Prefabricated Units for DC construction.
https://www.sunpln.net/prefabricated-data-center/

Oracle plans fuel cells to power DC in New Mexico
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/28/oracle_new_mexico_power_fuel_cell_farm/

China unveils ultra-cheap ‘all-iron flow battery’ for renewable energy storage
https://sc.mp/t36l5?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_campaign=3351111&utm_medium=share_widget