Vertiv opens Malaysia plant to meet AI data centres’ power needs

US data centre equipment maker Vertiv Holdings Co. opened a factory in Malaysia, underscoring the rapid pace of AI infrastructure buildout in the Asia Pacific.

The facility in Johor, directly north of Singapore, will make power and cooling systems needed to keep clients’ data centres running in Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia and New Zealand, according to a statement by the Westerville, Ohio-based company on Wednesday. The plant - Vertiv’s first in Southeast Asia - will be fully operational in 2027.

Vertiv Holdings Co. chief executive officer Giordano Albertazzi. — Source: Company website

"Asia continues to be one of the fastest-growing regions for AI and digital infrastructure investment,” Chief Executive Officer Giordano Albertazzi said.

"Expanding our manufacturing footprint in Malaysia aims to further enhance our ability to support customers with quality, speed, scale and resilience.”

Companies ranging from Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. to their Chinese peers Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are spending billions of dollars to expand their computing firepower in Asia.

Vertiv provides equipment such as power distribution units and liquid-cooling systems, essential for AI services providers. AI clusters need far more electricity and cooling than traditional data centres, boosting demand for manufacturers who can meet their higher power density needs and complex thermal requirements. - Bloomberg