With a hefty investment of over $1.4, a data centre by Facebook is slated to be built in Singapore. It is going to be an 11-storey facility spanning over an area of 170,000 sqm. This first of its kind data centre in Singapore has the potential to offer plenty of job opportunities. The announcement of this data centre was made by the top social media platform – Facebook on 6th September. Fortis Construction has been elected as the general contractor of this project. The reason they are given the responsibility of completing this project is their prior experiences of working together in building different data centres.
Facebook has gained quite a lot of popularity in this region in the recent past. It further wants to grow its presence here and this venture will help them in achieving this feat. During the launch event of this project, Facebook’s vice president for infrastructure Data Centres, Mr. Thomas Furlong, expressed his views that a huge number of jobs will be created with the competition of this project. Right from logistics staff to network maintenance, plenty of operators will be required for this long-term project. The staffing process is underway by Facebook for this project.
This data centre project in Singapore is termed to be extremely efficient when it comes to the use of some of the vital resources such as energy, water, and land. In order to minimize the consumption of power and water, it is touted to have an advanced liquid cooling technology-based system. As per studies, the incorporation of such a system in the climate like Singapore can help to reduce the use of groundwater by 20%.
The land resource will be conserved by building this 11-storey data centre in an upward direction rather than following the outwards direction approach. Furthermore, its façade is said to be made using a perforated material that is lightweight. This material allows enhanced air flow, which, in turn, helps to conserve energy.
As per Mr. Furlong, the data centre’s first phase will be completed in 2022 and it will become operational by them. However, he stated that construction work will continue as new phases will begin. The completion of the whole project is slated to take some time.
At the launching ceremony, Mr. Chan Chun Sing, Minister of Trade and Industry, was also present. He termed the building of Facebook 1st Asian data centre in Singapore as a “significant milestone” because of the potentials it has for the country. Mr. Chan believes that once operation, this project can help to improve the role of Singapore when it comes to data storage and data protection. Furthermore, it will also the country to play a major role in various other aspects such as data security, data analytics, and intellectual property.
He further believes that the increasing popularity of Facebook is helping the country to stay connected to other parts of the world in a different way. This connectivity can help in the recognition of ideas, talent, and creativity of skilled/creative individuals of Singapore.
Some of the government sectors are place their offices in the West Singapore, and now even the king of social media is having their first asian office in the West. Perhaps it is time to consider a developer in or near the western part of Singapore.
