Singapore's second Data Center Call for Application awarded Digital Realty a provisional 50 MW allocation for a Jurong Island facility, its fourth in the city-state. The AI-ready build will raise the REIT's local capacity from roughly 84 MW to about 134 MW, serving inference and enterprise workloads across APAC.
A fourth Singapore data center is now on Digital Realty Trust's books after the REIT received a provisional 50-megawatt allocation under the city-state's second Data Center Call for Application. The facility, planned for Jurong Town Corporation's low-carbon park on Jurong Island, targets AI inference, high-performance computing and enterprise cloud workloads across the Asia-Pacific region, and will expand the company's local footprint from roughly 84 MW across three operational sites to about 134 MW.
"Singapore has been a key market for Digital Realty since 2010 and currently houses its regional headquarters, Global Command Center and three operational data centers," the company said in its announcement. The Jurong Island project will connect customers to Digital Realty's global PlatformDIGITAL ecosystem and expand its interconnected Singapore campus through ServiceFabric, supporting workload deployment across multiple sites.
The allocation comes as Singapore's government has historically restricted new data center approvals because of land and power constraints on the island's small grid, a policy that pushed overflow demand toward neighboring markets such as Johor, Malaysia. Digital Realty's selection under the second Call for Application signals the city-state is selectively reopening capacity for AI-ready infrastructure, prioritizing projects that meet low-carbon and energy-efficiency standards. The Jurong Island park is designed specifically for such requirements.
The expansion sits within a broader APAC infrastructure wave. Hyperscalers are committing tens of billions to the region: Microsoft has pledged A$5 billion to expand its Australian cloud and AI footprint from 20 to 29 sites, while Amazon Web Services plans AU$20 billion in Australian data center infrastructure by 2029. AirTrunk, the Blackstone-owned wholesale operator, reports that Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft have all expressed stronger-than-expected interest in Australian builds over the past six to eight months, driven partly by community pushback against data center construction in mature US markets.
Singapore's selective reopening
Singapore's second Call for Application reflects a careful balancing act. The government restricted new data center approvals for years because of land and power constraints, but AI workloads have forced a recalibration. The Jurong Island allocation to Digital Realty — alongside similar awards to other operators — suggests the city-state is prioritizing energy-efficient, AI-ready facilities over generic capacity. Digital Realty's existing Singapore operations, which include its regional headquarters and Global Command Center, gave it an incumbent advantage in the selection process.
The company's expansion is not isolated to Singapore. Digital Realty launched its NBO2 data center in Nairobi on Sept. 7, adding 6.4 MW to its Kenyan campus and bringing total available capacity there above 14 MW. Kenya's Principal Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy, John Tanui, has called on the company to expand further to 20 MW, reflecting broader demand for cloud and AI infrastructure across emerging markets.
Investor implications
Digital Realty shares have gained 1.9 percent over the past three months, outperforming the broader REIT industry, which fell 2.2 percent over the same period, according to Zacks Investment Research. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) rating. The Singapore allocation reinforces the thesis that data center REITs with established APAC footprints are best positioned to capture AI-driven capacity demand, particularly in markets where regulatory approval is scarce and barriers to entry are high.
The competitive landscape remains crowded. Equinix, Digital Realty's primary colocation rival, operates multiple facilities across Singapore and the broader APAC region, while hyperscalers increasingly build their own capacity. But the scarcity of approved data center sites in Singapore gives incumbents like Digital Realty a structural advantage: new entrants face years of permitting and grid-connection delays, while existing operators can expand within their current campuses more quickly. The 50 MW Jurong Island allocation, once operational, will strengthen Digital Realty's ability to serve AI inference workloads that require infrastructure located close to users and corporate data across Southeast Asia.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
