Kuala lumpur: Malaysia’s data centre market is on track to become one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific region, with total capacity expected to more than quadruple beyond 2026. JLL Malaysia’s capital markets manager for data centre transactions, Sum Chun Kit, announced that Malaysia’s current data centre capacity of approximately 835 megawatts (MW) could surpass 4,000 MW beyond 2026.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, this substantial growth will position Malaysia as a leading data centre market in the region. Sum highlighted Greater Kuala Lumpur as the primary hub, with Cyberjaya maintaining the densest concentration of data centres in the country. The area is experiencing significant growth in hyperscale deployments, evolving as Malaysia’s premier data centre destination.
In addition to Kuala Lumpur, Johor is emerging as a key location for data centres, with Nusajaya gaining recognition as a premium site. Sedenak Tech Park in Johor houses one of Southeast Asia’s largest purpose-built data centre parks, equipped with specialised power and water infrastructure. Negeri Sembilan is also identified as an emerging hotspot for hyperscale developments, particularly in Nilai and Port Dickson, due to its proximity to Selangor and lower land prices.
Sum noted that Malaysia’s data centre demand is currently driven by traditional workloads such as cloud computing and data storage, but anticipates that artificial intelligence (AI)-related workloads will accelerate in the future. “Most of the data centres are still being driven by traditional workloads, but there will be a lot more AI workload in the future,” he explained.
Regarding the power outlook, Sum mentioned that data centres in Malaysia presently consume around three per cent of Peninsular Malaysia’s total installed power capacity of 27,000 MW, a figure that could rise to 15 to 20 per cent by 2035. He also pointed out that data centres require significant water quantities for cooling, with only 18 per cent of water applications for data centres approved last year due to resource constraints.
To address water usage, some data centres in Johor are developing wastewater treatment plants and utilising river and grey water, a trend Sum expects to continue across Malaysia.