Govt reviewing water, power supply needs of data centres
Deputy energy minister says there are some data centres that aren't yielding many benefits, which should be reviewed as well.
The Malaysian government is examining the water and electricity demands of data centres to prevent overburdening residents. Deputy Energy, Transition, and Water Transformation Minister Abdul Rahman Mohamad stated that the review aims to ensure data centres' power requirements match actual consumption, avoiding unnecessary excess capacity.
Rahman mentioned that some facilities are requesting more capacity than they truly need, which could go to waste. He highlighted that the government wants to prevent "phantom demand," where companies reserve substantial amounts of water or electricity without fully utilizing them. Rahman suggested that data centre operators establish independent power producers to reduce the strain on the national power grid, while emphasizing the need to balance investors' needs with domestic users' interests.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 1 other outlet
- Govt reviewing water, power supply needs of data centres freemalaysiatoday.com