KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): MN Holdings Bhd is partnering China’s Shanghai DC-Science Co Ltd to develop Shanghai DC-Science's first high-performance data centre outside China.
The underground utilities and substation engineering specialist said in a statement on Monday (April 3) the project is estimated to have a value of over US$600 million (RM2.65 billion) and will boost to MN Holdings’ future order book, which stood at RM325.9 million as at Jan 20, 2023.
It said to formalise the partnership, MN Holdings via its wholly owned subsidiary Mutu Nusantara Sdn Bhd inked a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai DC-Science on April 1, 2023.
Details on the scope of work will be finalised upon the signing of the supplementary agreement between Shanghai DC-Science and MN Holdings, it added.
The data centre project is part of a series of foreign direct investments secured for Malaysia in conjunction with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s maiden visit to China on March 30 to April 2, 2023.
Spanning across a 20-acre site at the Sedenak Tech Park, Johor, the high performance data centre is a significant milestone for Malaysia. It is Shanghai DC-Science’s first location outside China, having set up more than 300 data centres across its home country.
Under the current planning, utilities for the project comprises a power load of 120MW with dual power supply to support the 12,000-rack facility. Daily average water supply is expected to be about 5,000 metric tonnes while the network access infrastructure shall be made available.
Phase 1 of the project is slated to begin development this year, and to commence operations in the first half of 2024.
MN Holdings managing director Loy Siong Hay said: “The partnership is a testament to MN Holdings’ core expertise in the underground utilities construction, as well as substation engineering solutions, which span the installation of electricity transmission cables, sewerage and drainage pipelines, as well as construction and commission of the plant.
“It marks further diversification of MN Holdings’ customer base, following its success in harnessing greater participation in large scale solar (LSS) projects and other works related to data centres and the semiconductor industry here.”
Loy said the collaboration with Shanghai DC-Science will further strengthen MN Holdings’ technical know-how on construction and engineering of a data centre.