Facebook has unveiled plans to build its first custom-built data centre in Asia, with the 11-storey single-footprint data centre to be constructed in Singapore.
The Facebook data centre represents a SG$1.4 billion (£787 million) investment in the country. The 170,000 square metre facility will be 100 percent powered by renewables, the company said in a statement Thursday.
While Facebook describes Singapore as a “modern vibrant hub of technology” in Asia, its temperate conditions are not ideal to efficiently operate a data centre; the high humidity and temperatures both causing challenges.
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To counteract these conditions the data centre will be the first to fully utilise the StatePoint Liquid Cooling System, an advanced evaporative cooling technology that uses water instead of air to cool the facility. The technology has been co-developed by Facebook and Nortek, a Providence-based technology company.
Facebook Data Centre Cooling System
The system uses a liquid-to-air energy exchanger where the water is chilled as it evaporates and is moved through a separation layer. The membrane separation layer acts as a filtration system that prevents the cross-contamination of the water and air streams from dust and particles in the environment; this helps to reduce the cost of maintenance of the cooling circuit.
Commenting in a Facebook post on the announcement Jay Parikh VP of Infrastructure Engineering at Facebook commented that: “This technology minimizes water and power consumption and can maintain required temperatures without supplemental cooling.”
“It can reduce the amount of water used by 20% in hot and humid climates like Singapore when compared to other indirect cooling systems. With an expected PUE of 1.19, we expect this facility to be one of the most efficient data centres in the region.”
The facility will be 11 stories high and span 1.8 million square feet. Roughly 430,000 tons of concert will be used in its construction. “That’s roughly the same weight as 20 of the main towers supporting the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco,” Parikh claims.
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Singapore is seeing a large influx of investment from US-based technology firms. Last month Google announced that it would be constructing its third data centre in Singapore, which brings the company’s investment in the country to £656 million.
