One year later than originally planned, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has opened its Loyang facility in Singapore.

The 40MW data center was announced in 2018, with a plant to open in mid-2020. In the event, the pandemic caused construction delays - though the company says it has minimized these by prefabricating many elements off-site. 

STT GDC Loyang.jpg
– STT GDC

Overcoming Covid challenges

"Despite the challenges seen in the construction sector in 2020, we worked closely with the relevant authorities and our stakeholders to ensure smooth and Covid-safe completion of construction, and today we are primed to cater to new demands fueled by economic recovery,” said Clement Goh, CEO Southeast Asia, STT GDC.

The data center will be STT GDC's seventh and largest data center in Singapore, and has the BCA-IMDA Green Mark Platinum sustainability certificate. The building has six stories, a total floor area of more than 290,000 sq ft (27,000 sq m), with 111,000 sq ft (10,700 sq m) of white space (lettable area).

To minimize delays caused by the pandemic, STT GDC built many of the electrical, mechanical, and building elements off-site, using BIM 3D design technologies. Building workers were provided with dedicated on-site accommodation to avoid health and safety risks from the pandemic, and ensure that construction would still be able to go ahead

The facility has a design power usage effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.3 - that is, STT hopes the design will achieve that level of efficiency when it is fully operational.

STT GDC has promised its data center operations will be carbon neutral by 2030 - but renewable power is in short supply in Singapore. The Loyand building has 2,000 sq m of solar panels on the roof, which provides around 400MWh per annum of renewable zero-carbon energy for use in the facility - around 0.1 percent of the 350 GWh energy the data center would use in a year if operating continuously at 40MW.

The data center offers flexible layouts to meet different customer requirements. The power is reliable, with two on-site 66kV substations.

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