Under the MOU, the companies will evaluate a range of low-carbon energy options, including low-carbon hydrogen-based generation, biomethane-based power generation, building-applied photovoltaics, and renewable energy imports from a 2.2-gigawatt-peak floating solar project at Linggiu Reservoir in Johor, Malaysia. The inclusion of cross-border renewable imports reflects Singapore's broader strategy of leveraging regional clean energy resources to meet domestic power demand in a market where land availability for large-scale renewable generation is severely constrained.
"As AI adoption accelerates globally, demand for reliable, scalable and lower-carbon energy continues to grow," said Koh Chiap Khiong, Sembcorp's president and CEO of Gas and Related Services and CEO of Singapore. Bill Chang, CEO of Nxera and Singtel's Digital InfraCo unit, framed the challenge in stark terms: "AI is driving a step-change in the power needs of data centres, and in a land- and resource-constrained market like Singapore, how we source that power matters."
The partnership signals a widening recognition among Southeast Asian data centre operators and energy providers that the power intensity of AI workloads demands new procurement models. Singapore, which hosts one of the region's densest concentrations of data centre capacity, has been balancing moratorium-era caution with renewed expansion, and the ability to secure credible low-carbon power pathways is increasingly viewed as a prerequisite for attracting hyperscale and AI-focused tenants. For Sembcorp, the collaboration extends its position in Singapore's energy transition, while for Nxera it provides a potential route to differentiate its AI data centre offerings on sustainability credentials as competition intensifies across the region.