Singtel struck a range of partnerships covering regional AI development and renewable energy initiatives to ensure its newly launched Nxera data centre unit achieves its operational net-zero emissions target by 2028.

The operator signed strategic deals with regional renewable energy suppliers comprising Gulf Energy, Medco Power, Sembcorp and TNB Renewables. It also teamed with Nvidia to make AI more accessible in Singapore and across the region.

As a Nvidia cloud partner in the region, Singtel’s Digital InfraCo will give enterprises access to the chipmaker’s GPU clusters hosted in Nxera’s AI data centres.

Bill Chang, CEO of Digital InfraCo and Nxera, stated the partnerships “are critical to laying the groundwork for turning digitalisation into a driver for decarbonisation”.

Nxera will set up a co-innovation platform with its energy partners to develop and test liquid and immersion cooling, and water-saving technologies.

Chang explained the new technologies would be deployed at its Tuas data centre in Singapore and others in the region. 

The Tuas facility will have a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.23 at full load, making it one of the most efficient data centres in Asia, he stated.

A PUE score of 1 means a data centre is 100 per cent efficient.

Gulf Energy is Nxera’s partner for a data centre venture in Thailand, while Medco Power covers Indonesia.

Nxera also will set up an academy with the Singapore Institute of Technology, the Institute of Technical Education, and Nanyang, Singapore and Temasek polytechnics to train students for its data centre business.

Chang added it is looking to expand its data centre footprint in the region from 62MW to more than 200MW over the next three years.