Greening data centres

The report examines the energy demands of data centres in ASEAN, particularly those driven by AI, and argues that a dual approach of increasing solar and wind power procurement and enhancing energy efficiency is essential. It highlights that current grid emission targets in key hubs are insufficient and suggests that at least 30% of electricity demand in five ASEAN data centre hubs could be met by wind and solar by 2030 without immediate battery storage. The document emphasizes the critical role of cooling systems in tropical climates and the potential for software optimisation to reduce energy consumption.

• Current government renewable energy targets for grids serving data centre hotspots are not reducing emission factors rapidly enough to meet sustainability goals. For example, Singapore's grid emission factors are projected to decline by only 4.9% (from 0.48 to 0.45 tCO2e per MWh) between 2019 and 2030, while Indonesia's JAMALI grid is projected to drop 9.4% (from 0.78 to 0.70 tCO2e per MWh).
• Five ASEAN data centre hubs have the potential to meet at least 30% of their 2030 electricity demand using grid-based wind and solar power before battery storage becomes necessary, suggesting that battery costs are not an immediate barrier to adopting these renewables.
• Cooling is a primary driver of energy consumption in data centres, particularly in ASEAN's tropical climate. Cooling alone can account for 39% of total energy use, while computing and servers account for 40%.
• Specific energy efficiency measures can significantly reduce power needs: increasing operating temperature set points by one degree Celsius can save 4.3% to 9.8% of cooling electricity, and immersion cooling technology can reduce power consumption by approximately 40% compared to traditional methods.
• Software optimisation is emerging as a significant lever for efficiency; for instance, the AI assistant DeepSeek is estimated to be around 95% more efficient than traditional AI training methods.

APA

Ember (2025). Greening data centres. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/greening-data-centres/

Chicago

Ember. Greening data centres. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/greening-data-centres/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Greening data centres |date=27 May 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/greening-data-centres/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2025greening, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Greening data centres}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/greening-data-centres/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }