New standard to help data centres be more energy-efficient, save costs

It sets guidelines for sector to safely raise temperatures of data centres in hot climates

- Zhaki Abdullah

Data centres in tropical countries such as Singapore consume a lot of energy as they need to power cooling systems that allow the equipment to operate within a certain temperature range.

But a newly introduced standard aims to make data centres here more energy-efficient and help them save money by making it possible to operate at higher temperatures, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Thursday.

Operating temperatures could be gradually increased to 26 deg C or more, allowing these centres to benefit from cooling energy savings of between 2 per cent and 5 per cent for every 1 deg C increase.

The standard establishes guidelines for the industry to safely raise the operational temperatures of data centres in hot tropical climates and at higher humidity levels, IMDA said.

It noted that the standard was developed after consulting industry experts.

IMDA said cooling systems can account for up to 40 per cent of a data centre’s total energy consumption, with many operators choosing to operate their equipment at temperatures of 22 deg C and below.

Data centres were responsible for about 7 per cent of the Republic’s total electricity consumption in 2020, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

As at January 2022, there were more than 70 operational data centres in Singapore.