President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. welcomed Thursday the planned establishment of two hyperscale data centers in Luzon, saying the plan would give a boost to his administration’s digital transformation bid.
This, after Marcos, in a meeting with executives of infrastructure development firms ENDEC Development Corp. and Diode Ventures, LLC at the State Dining Room of Malacañang Palace, was briefed on the status of the proposed hyperscale data center projects in the Philippines.
During the meeting, the two companies informed Marcos of their ongoing negotiations to build hyperscale data centers in Tarlac province and New Clark City, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a statement.
Marcos said the planned construction of hyperscale data centers would enable the Philippines to catch up with other countries in terms of digitalization.
“This is important for us. We’re left behind when it comes to digitalization. That’s why the push for data centers, fiber optics and satellite is one of our priorities,” Marcos said, as quoted by the PCO.
“We are really pushing [for] digitalization. Thank you for your continuing interest in the Philippines,” he told the executives of ENDEC and Diode Ventures.
Hyperscale data centers are massive business-critical facilities built by companies with vast data processing and storage needs.
The facilities are designed to efficiently support robust, scalable applications that are often associated with big data-producing companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft.
Unlike traditional data centers, hyperscale data centers exceed 5,000 servers and 10,000 square feet.
The projects, Garafil said, are a result of Marcos’ productive roundtable discussion with American business leaders in New York in September 2022.
On Sept. 22 last year, ENDECGROUP, Inc. and Diode Ventures, LLC joined the roundtable meeting on digital infrastructure during Marcos’ visit to New York.
Garafil said ENDEC is committed to starting the project in the first quarter of 2024 and will work with a local Renewable Energy (RE) company for its electricity requirements to support its energy-intensive data center operations.
ENDEC, Garafil said, would use “100 percent” RE sourced from solar, wind and hydro to sustain the 700-megawatt monthly power consumption of its data centers.
“According to ENDEC, it would secure separate energy sources to ensure that the country’s power grids will not be affected by its operation,” the PCO chief said.
The meeting with Marcos was attended by ENDECGROUP, Inc. managing director William Johnson, ENDEC Inc. chief operating officer (COO) Ernest Calayag, and Diode Ventures, LLC president Brad Hardin.
Also present were Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Presidential Adviser on Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go.
ENDEC Development Corp., a subsidiary of ENDECGROUP, Inc., is the main developer of the projects.
In the past 22 years, ENDEC, Inc. delivered more than 100 projects globally, including water systems, blending plants, schools, training centers, specialized diagnostic laboratories and landing zone pads.
On the other hand, Diode Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of the global company Black & Veatch (BV), is the development partner of ENDEC Development Corp.
Established in 2017, the company specializes in the development of data centers and renewable energy projects. (PNA)
