GDS Holdings Limited, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China has signed an MoU with Sembcorp Industries Limited to partner on renewable energy initiatives. Under the agreement, both the companies will collaborate to develop renewable energy solutions for GDS data centers wherever accessible in China. Moreover, they will explore other opportunities through which operational synergies can be realized between the GDS’ data centers and Sembcorp’s renewable power and water management offerings.
GDS’ Chengdu and Zhangbei data centers are already using green power and its partnership with Sembcorp is aimed towards further expanding its renewable energy consumption for its operations. This MoU comes at a time when many tech giants across the globe are increasingly opting for renewable power for powering their data centers which are quite energy intensive. With increasing internet usage, the size and scale of the data centers is also growing, significantly contributing to carbon emissions. Using renewable energy either through onsite or offsite installations is a popular way to offset these emissions.
GDS’ partnership with Sembcorp is happening through the latter’s Chinese subsidiaries. Sembcorp has been investing in the Chinese market for over 20 years and has 19 power and water assets across 12 provincial regions. The company has more than 700 MW of wind power assets in operation across Hebei province and Inner Mongolia autonomous region.