Data centre platform Digital Edge and renewable energy developer and producer Peak Energy have formed a partnership to collaborate on renewable energy projects that will power Digital Edge data centres in the Asia Pacific region.
The Singapore-based stablemates, both backed by infrastructure and real estate private equity firm Stonepeak, will jointly pursue an initial pipeline of 500 megawatts (MW) of operating capacity for existing and planned data centres over a three year period.
“To date, we have made substantial progress in leveraging renewable energy across the Digital Edge platform, with our EDGE1 facility in Jakarta becoming the first data centre in Indonesia to run on 100 percent renewables. Through this partnership with Peak Energy, we will be able to further build on these initiatives and advance our ESG goals,” Samuel Lee, Digital Edge chief executive said in a release on Thursday.
Peak Energy, which focuses on solar, wind, and storage technologies, will target projects in countries where Digital Edge has existing deployments, including Japan, Korea, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines, as well as other markets to support Digital Edge’s expansion plans.
Moving Towards Carbon Neutral
Digital Edge and Peak Energy pointed to the agreement as allowing both partners to progress their business and sustainability objectives, with Digital Edge targeting carbon neutrality by 2030.
The joint projects will support the decarbonisation of up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of power, and generate more than 1,300 GWh (gigawatt hours) per year, which is equivalent to removing 216,000 cars off the road, according to the partners.
“Peak Energy is focused on helping corporates reduce their power costs and carbon footprints in a sustainable way,” said Gavin Adda, chief executive of Peak Energy. “We look forward to expanding the existing relationship with Digital Edge on this exciting initiative. This partnership will foster the common business objectives of two rapidly growing companies throughout the Asia Pacific region.”
China, another market where Digital Edge has a presence, was not among the countries named for project collaboration.
Both Digital Edge and Peak Energy were launched in 2020 with backing by New York-based Stonepeak as part of the fund manager’s focus on sectors including digital infrastructure and communications, energy transition, and transport and logistics. The private equity firm managed $65.1 billion of global assets as of December.
Regional Buildout
Digital Edge’s existing portfolio includes 17 carrier neutral data centre facilities totaling over 500 MW of capacity, with the company having deployed and committed over $1 billion in capital.
In February, Digital Edge announced the availability of EDGE2, its second data centre in downtown Jakarta, after construction on the 23 MW facility began in 2022. The facility is operated by a unit of PT Indointernet Tbk, with Digital Edge having upped its majority stake in the Indonesian data centre operator known in December after having acquired a controlling interest in 2021.
EDGE2 is the company’s third project in Southeast Asia, following a $100 million joint venture formed in 2021 with Threadborne Group, the family office of the Philippines’ Rufino business clan, to build a 10 MW data centre in Greater Manila. Digital Edge in 2022 had also expressed interest in developing facilities in Thailand.
Last June, Digital Edge began construction of its seventh Tokyo-area data centre known as TYO7 as part of a joint venture with Japanese developer Hulic.
That project came after Digital Edge announced its entry into India via a joint venture with Singapore-based AGP Sustainable Real Assets and a state-backed investor to build a portfolio of hyperscale facilities, including a $2 billion project in Mumbai.
Peak Energy develops, owns and operates renewable energy assets across Asia, with a renewable portfolio that includes projects in Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.
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