Powering Asia Pacific’s data centre boom
Unlocking sector growth and accelerating decarbonisation together
Across Asia Pacific, explosive data centre growth creates major economic opportunities while bringing significant new challenges for energy systems already in transition.
Successfully navigating this tension is critical for the sector to scale rapidly over the coming decade. With smart sourcing strategies that expand clean energy supply, data centres can grow without exacerbating grid strain. Aligning data centre growth with energy system opportunities requires coordinated action across the data centre and energy ecosystem. Sector leaders are showing the way – now smart energy solutions can scale up to become the data centre sector’s business as usual.
This report brings together insights from interviews with data centre leaders spanning asset owners, operators and component manufacturers, alongside Deloitte's analysis of regional energy, regulatory, sustainability trends and market developments across Asia Pacific.
Key findings
- Asia Pacific is set to become the world’s next data centre hub, with approximately $800 billion in data centre investment expected across the region by 2030.
- Regional electricity demand is projected to increase by nearly 50% by 2035 as economies grow and electrify, while data centre electricity demand is expected to expand up to five-fold by the mid-2030s, significantly reshaping electricity system needs.
- Rapid data centre growth presents a significant economic opportunity for Asia Pacific, but uncoordinated expansion risks worsening grid congestion and price volatility. With proactive planning and the addition of new clean energy capacity, data centres could instead support grid stability and accelerate the region’s clean energy transition.
- Data centre operators and their energy partners are adopting a diverse range of clean energy solutions, tailored to different data centre requirements and market contexts. In most AP markets clean energy can now be faster to deploy, with lower costs, and added resilience compared with conventional energy sources.
- Today’s leading clean energy practices must become business as usual for the data centre sector. Through a “power-first” approach to planning and investment, data centre growth can act as a catalyst for cleaner, more resilient and more affordable energy systems.
- When new data centres contribute additively to energy supply, everyone can win — enabling faster speed to market for providers, improved system affordability and reliability for other users, and accelerated progress towards decarbonisation goals.
- Addressing this challenge requires a multi-stakeholder approach across the data centre and energy ecosystem, encompassing developers and operators, governments, energy providers and asset owners, investors and major customers.
Data centre leaders in Asia Pacific are already pioneering practical models to grow capacity and support energy system decarbonisation at the same time.
Adopting a power-first approach
Integrating reliable, scalable clean energy into project design from the outset, rather than treating energy as a secondary procurement decision.
Using diverse clean energy sourcing levers
Leveraging onsite renewables and storage, utility green tariffs and long term renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) to secure cost effective, low emissions power and underpin new generation capacity.
Pursuing opportunities in co-location
Exploring “clean energy data zones” that cluster data centres near high quality solar and wind resources and existing grid capacity, reducing the need for costly grid upgrades.
Leveraging flexibility and intelligent load shifting
Using advanced operating systems to move suitable workloads across time and location to coincide with periods of abundant, low-cost renewable generation.
Integrating storage and grid support services
Deploying batteries and other firming technologies to improve resilience, diversify revenue and provide services such as frequency control and peak shaving.
Opens in new window
Across Asia Pacific, electricity grids are already under pressure to decarbonise and maintain affordability, resilience and security. Taking a power-first approach with clean energy is critical to power new data centres, accelerate decarbonisation and underpin continued economic growth.
Will Symons, Deloitte Asia Pacific Sustainability Leader
AI, cloud and connectivity are driving an unprecedented need for computing power across the region. The winners in this race will be those operators and markets that treat energy as core infrastructure, not a downstream procurement choice.
Abhrajit Ray, Deloitte Asia Pacific Technology, Media and Telecom Leader
