Nov 19 2025, 01:28 PM, updated 2 months ago
QUOTE
Johor data centres told to wait for water for 18 months
South China Morning Post
19 Nov 2025j
Joseph Sipalan
Investors in Malaysia’s fastgrowing data centre hub of Johor have been asked to postpone water-cooled expansion projects for at least 18 months, as the authorities grapple with drought and mounting pressure on the state’s water supplies.
Officials say the temporary deferral will apply to developers whose facilities depend on water for cooling servers that run around the clock, amid growing unease among residents and environmentalists that billions of dollars in tech investment are colliding with basic water needs.
Johor is now home to 15 operational data centres with dozens more under construction.
Cooling these vast server farms, which are essential for everything from artificial intelligence to e-commerce, requires about 675 million cubic metres of water per day, according to government estimates.
Despite these pressures, Johor officials say water supplies remain adequate overall but acknowledge distribution problems.
“It’s not the sufficiency, it’s the management ... how to make sure that water is channelled to the right place,” said Lee Ting Han, Johor’s state executive councillor for investment and trade, on the sidelines of the Fortune Innovation Forum 2025 in Kuala Lumpur.
Residents have complained of worsening supply disruptions in recent months as rising industrial demand compounds the strain caused by the droughts and pollution. Earlier this month, a sand mining accident forced four treatment plants to close, cutting off water to more than half of Johor’s 1.7 million residents for up to 12 hours.
Lee said most of Johor’s water resources were concentrated in central and eastern areas, while demand was greatest in the south – closest to Singapore, a major source of foreign investment.
To address the imbalance, the state government has initiated several infrastructure projects to divert surplus water southwards, a programme expected to be completed by mid-2027.
“We tell them [investors] very frankly, if you want a water-cooled solution then you have to wait until mid-2027,” Lee said. “But if you consider other solutions like air-cooled or other technology, you can start pretty soon.”
Johor’s data-centre boom has attracted major pledges, including a US$4.3 billion partnership between Malaysian conglomerate YTL Utilities and chip giant Nvidia to develop AI infrastructure; Google’s US$2 billion commitment to its first Malaysian data centre and cloud region; and TikTok owner ByteDance’s US$2.2 billion plan to expand its local data hub.
The state’s 15 completed data centres have a combined capacity of 1.7 gigawatts, with 11 others under construction and 22 more awaiting approval. By 2030, all 48 are expected to be operational, with a total committed capacity of about 5.1GW – making Johor the largest data centre hub in Southeast Asia, according to Lee.
Sekian. Sila bersurai secara aman dan teratur.South China Morning Post
19 Nov 2025j
Joseph Sipalan
Investors in Malaysia’s fastgrowing data centre hub of Johor have been asked to postpone water-cooled expansion projects for at least 18 months, as the authorities grapple with drought and mounting pressure on the state’s water supplies.
Officials say the temporary deferral will apply to developers whose facilities depend on water for cooling servers that run around the clock, amid growing unease among residents and environmentalists that billions of dollars in tech investment are colliding with basic water needs.
Johor is now home to 15 operational data centres with dozens more under construction.
Cooling these vast server farms, which are essential for everything from artificial intelligence to e-commerce, requires about 675 million cubic metres of water per day, according to government estimates.
Despite these pressures, Johor officials say water supplies remain adequate overall but acknowledge distribution problems.
“It’s not the sufficiency, it’s the management ... how to make sure that water is channelled to the right place,” said Lee Ting Han, Johor’s state executive councillor for investment and trade, on the sidelines of the Fortune Innovation Forum 2025 in Kuala Lumpur.
Residents have complained of worsening supply disruptions in recent months as rising industrial demand compounds the strain caused by the droughts and pollution. Earlier this month, a sand mining accident forced four treatment plants to close, cutting off water to more than half of Johor’s 1.7 million residents for up to 12 hours.
Lee said most of Johor’s water resources were concentrated in central and eastern areas, while demand was greatest in the south – closest to Singapore, a major source of foreign investment.
To address the imbalance, the state government has initiated several infrastructure projects to divert surplus water southwards, a programme expected to be completed by mid-2027.
“We tell them [investors] very frankly, if you want a water-cooled solution then you have to wait until mid-2027,” Lee said. “But if you consider other solutions like air-cooled or other technology, you can start pretty soon.”
Johor’s data-centre boom has attracted major pledges, including a US$4.3 billion partnership between Malaysian conglomerate YTL Utilities and chip giant Nvidia to develop AI infrastructure; Google’s US$2 billion commitment to its first Malaysian data centre and cloud region; and TikTok owner ByteDance’s US$2.2 billion plan to expand its local data hub.
The state’s 15 completed data centres have a combined capacity of 1.7 gigawatts, with 11 others under construction and 22 more awaiting approval. By 2030, all 48 are expected to be operational, with a total committed capacity of about 5.1GW – making Johor the largest data centre hub in Southeast Asia, according to Lee.
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