Chindata Group’s Wu Huapeng explains the need to move towards low-emission, high-efficiency operations.
In markets like China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, data centres are in a high-growth phase. In China, for example, the market for data-centre services is set to see a compound annual growth rate of almost 20% over the next five years, according to industry figures.
Similar trends are being seen in other Asia-Pacific markets, with data-centre development being necessitated by rapid growth in subsea cables, the rise of AI applications including the likes of ChatGPT, and investments by cloud providers and global enterprises establishing operations in the region.
This creates a need in data centres to meet escalating requirements in a short amount of time and boost power density. Amid these growing demands, substantial innovation is required to improve efficiency, and reduce electricity and water consumption to meet accelerating needs for sustainability, says Wu Huapeng, CEO of Chindata Group. “Industry enterprises must swiftly transition towards large-scale, low-emission and high-efficiency operations,” he says.
Focus on innovation
Chindata Group operates two sub-brands: Chindata in China and Bridge Data Centres in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. As a carrier-neutral hyperscale data centre player, the company had 35 data centres in service or under construction as at the end of June.
Having obtained and applied for 493 patents, Chindata places a strong emphasis on technological innovation. Its laser-guided focus on such concepts helped Chindata to scoop the awards for Best Data Centre Provider and Best Data Centre/Edge Service Innovation at this year’s Global Carrier Awards in October.
The company, which operates in China, India, Malaysia and Thailand, incorporates green and environmental concepts into the entire lifecycle of data-centre selection, planning, design, construction and operation. That allows the company to achieve an annual power usage effectiveness (PUE) as low as 1.21, both boosting sustainability and cutting operational costs.
Having predicted the surging demand for computing power, Chindata has developed a forward-looking modular data-centre architecture. Building upon this foundation, the company has introduced a full-stack solution for artificial-intelligence-generated content in data centres that addresses the challenges posed by high-density cabinet deployment and energy consumption associated with large-scale AI models.
“The application of leading technologies has enabled Chindata Group to rapidly expand overseas and establish itself as a model for the construction and operation of hyperscale data centres in Asia-Pacific emerging markets,” says Wu.
Sustainable construction
Chindata is also employing innovative methods for data-centre construction that slash assembly timelines and capex, making the process even more efficient. Giving an example of a project in Malaysia, where the company is seeing significant growth, Wu explains how a method was used whereby prefabricated containerised modules were designed and developed by a team in China before being shipped. They were then assembled by a local on-site team in Malaysia.
Using this method, the project was completed within just 11 months, with the construction in China taking six months and the on-site assembly in Johor, Malaysia, only 30 days – followed by a further three months to make the data centre ready for service. On top of that, it circumvented the need for large-scale civil construction, further diminishing the environmental impact.
Furthermore, Chindata has a strategic approach to choosing locations, giving it a significant presence in places with cooler climates and abundant renewable-energy resources where it can harness natural sources for cooling and limit environmental impact.
Investing in the future
The company’s continual push for innovation in sustainability is reflected in its spending in this area. In the first half of 2023, Chindata invested more than CNY50 million (€6 million) in research and development, growing by over a third year-on-year.
The company also looks to efficiently transform electric power into cutting-edge computing power and build a win-win model covering both the supply and demand sides of the industry.
In addition, Chindata aims to help create an inclusive society through digital advances in often underdeveloped regions, says Wu. “Our hyperscale presence attracts manufacturing, artificial intelligence and other ecosystem partners to settle in these regions, promoting the concentration of the digital economy,” he says. Combined with its green goals, the company hopes that will pave the way towards a more sustainable data-centre future.
