Back in 2019, in an effort to slash carbon emissions and enact more environmentally friendly policies, the Singapore government announced a moratorium on new data centers being built. However, BDx’s announcement of plans to build offshore data centers would help them to avoid this hurdle.
Together with the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Engineering (NUS Engineering) and Sembcorp Marine, BDx, has formed an alliance to explore the feasibility of sustainable ocean data centers. As previously reported by Baxtel, there is ongoing research into tackling data centers’ cooling issues, and underwater data centers have been found to conserve much more energy, as seawater acts as a natural coolant.
The three parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and each will contribute to the project in a different way. BDx will provide the technical proposal, operational strategy and data center arrangement, while NUS Engineering will take care of supplying the project’s cooling technology to meet energy targets. Lastly, Sembcorp Marine will contribute an “offshore platform” solution.
Commenting on the project, and BDx’s mission, Braham Singh, BDx CEO, said: “Advancing the sustainability goals of our customers and uncovering new innovative ways to bring sustainability to the data center industry is becoming increasingly important for BDx.”
Adding: “We have an ongoing commitment to this initiative, and we’re proud to work with NUS Engineering and Sembcorp Marine to begin the important work of creating a more sustainable future for our industry.”
Associate Professor Lee Poh Seng from the NUS Department of Mechanical Engineering outlined: “We are pleased to study the feasibility of deploying our patented liquid cooling technology for this exciting development of offshore data centers that could be powered and cooled using seawater, the world’s most abundant resource. We look forward to working with BDx and Sembcorp Marine to bring about tangible benefits for both the digital economy and the environment.”
Meanwhile, Wong Weng Sun, Sembcorp Marine President and CEO, said that such collaboration is now an imperative, with “growing awareness” of climate change and a “paradigm shift in energy consumption towards renewable sources.”
Further to this, he said: “Leveraging our innovative design expertise for the offshore, marine, and energy industries, Sembcorp Marine is excited to partner BDx and NUS Engineering to contribute to the sustainable evolution of the data center industry.”
