KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Singapore-based data centre developer Empyrion Digital has secured the green light to construct a hyperscale data centre campus in Johor, marking its first foray into Malaysia amid the state’s rapid rise as a regional digital infrastructure hotspot.
Empyrion Digital announced on Tuesday that it has received regulatory approval for both its Electricity Supply Agreement and Data Centre Task Force application for the development.
"Malaysia has emerged as a key destination for hyperscale data centres, driven by strong digital transformation, favourable infrastructure, and government support," the company's chief executive officer Mark Fong said in a statement.
"The Johor Data Centre Campus (MY1) reflects Empyrion Digital’s continued ambition to expand our pan-Asian platform and meet our customers’ needs for scalable, green-by-design, and AI (artificial intelligence)-ready infrastructure. Johor will be a cornerstone location in this strategy," he added.
Empyrion Digital said the campus in Nusajaya’s SiLC Industrial Cluster will occupy 34.9 acres and is one of the few projects to secure site approval and power allocation amid tighter regulations in Malaysia.
MY1 will be designed as a 200+MW next-generation hyperscale facility, comprising five 40MW buildings, with the first phase targeted to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2026, and earliest energisation by September 2026.
It added that the project has secured 145MW of initial power allocation from Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA).
Johor is projected to represent 60% of Malaysia’s data centre capacity by 2030, according to industry reports, reflecting rapid expansion in the state’s digital infrastructure footprint.
There are currently 47 operational, planned or under-construction facilities across the state, driven by accelerating demand for hyperscale cloud, AI workloads and cross-border spillover from Singapore.
Empyrion Digital added that MY1 will enhance cross-border digital connectivity between Johor and Singapore through its sister connectivity platform SPTel, under Seraya Partners’ AQX Digital Infrastructure.
“We see strong potential in collaborating with Empyrion Digital to integrate resilient connectivity and edge cloud capabilities across Singapore and Johor,” SPTel acting chief executive officer Ernest Lee said in the statement. “By combining SPTel’s secure, software-defined network with Empyrion Digital’s data centre footprint, we aim to deliver faster, more flexible digital infrastructure solutions for customers in the region.”
The company said MY1 represents its largest investment to date. Once completed, the data centre campus will join Empyrion Digital's growing platform of operational and development projects across Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei and Bangkok, bringing its total regional IT capacity to over 200MW.