Singapore firm builds Philippine’s largest data center

MANILA, Philippines — Singapore-based SpaceDC is putting up the largest hyperscale data center in the Philippines.

SpaceDC CEO Darren Hawkins said the firm picked the Philippines as it ranks second in terms of data center growth in Southeast Asia.

“With only 47 MW (megawatt) of available capacity in the country, it is a dramatically underserved market. We are excited to be a first mover in a new market where we see our customers are investing heavily in,” Hawkins said.

The company has partnered with global real estate services firm JLL to build the data center called MNL1 in Cainta in greater Manila that is slated to open this year.

Once completed, the 43,000-square meter facility will be the largest hyperscale data center campus in the country.

A hyperscale data center is a large-scale facility providing critical data storage and applications to businesses.

SpaceDC said MNL1 would be a green data center that is fully powered with renewable energy such as wind and geothermal. It will deliver 72 megawatt (MW) of critical power.

With an outstanding power usage efficiency of 1.3, the company said data center would also lead in terms of energy efficiency and design to reduce its carbon footprint.

Ralph Davidson, executive director for Data Center Services for JLL and project construction manager, said SpaceDC’s data center is being constructed in the right place at the right time given strong customer interest seen in the country.

“MNL1’s design is setting new standards in terms of technology, quality and operational excellence in the Philippines,” Davidson said.

SpaceDC has over 60 years of experience in designing, building and operating facilities around the world to support current and future data solution needs of businesses.

Hyperscale data centers are massive business-critical facilities designed to efficiently support robust, scalable applications and are often associated with big data-producing companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft.

Statistics from leading market and consumer data provider Statista showed the number of data centers worldwide increased to 700 last year from 597 in 2020.

As part of its investment promotions campaign, the Department of Trade and Industry - Board of Investments is positioning the Philippines as the next strategic hyperscaler hub in Asia-Pacific given the country’s digital landscape and talent pool.