Powering AI sustainably: How S’pore platform is rethinking energy for the data centre age

As artificial intelligence applications become more powerful, the digital infrastructure supporting them is facing a new challenge: energy. 

AI workloads require significantly more computing power than traditional applications, placing increasing demands on electricity, cooling systems and energy efficiency in data centres. As a result, energy resilience, sustainability and system efficiency are becoming critical considerations as digital infrastructure expands to support the growth of AI.

Bridge Data Centres (BDC), a Singapore-headquartered digital infrastructure platform backed by Bain Capital, is advancing a range of initiatives aimed at developing more sustainable energy solutions for next-generation data centres. These initiatives are designed to strengthen long-term power strategies while supporting the continued growth of AI workloads across Asia-Pacific.

The company’s approach combines new energy technologies, research collaborations and industry partnerships to explore alternative power pathways for digital infrastructure.

Advancing energy and cooling technologies

BDC has established partnerships with global leaders in energy and energy storage technologies, including CATL, EcoCeres and SK Innovation.

Through these collaborations, the partners will explore the development and pilot deployment of clean energy solutions such as hydrogen and biomass energy, as well as next-generation energy storage technologies designed for tropical climates.

These initiatives aim to enhance thermal management, improve safety performance and increase the power density of data centre energy storage systems. The partnerships will also explore the establishment of innovation and research platforms to support the development and deployment of these technologies across digital infrastructure environments.

BDC is also pushing the envelope in innovative and sustainable cooling solutions through collaborations with ecosystem technology partners such as Vertiv, Terahop and Teracule, subsidiaries of Zhongji Innolight, as well as Delta Electronics and Supermicro.

Many of these partners are established leaders in data centre cooling, power systems and high-performance computing infrastructure, working closely with leading chipmakers to support next-generation compute environments.

Through its collaboration with Teracule and Terahop, BDC is exploring opportunities to jointly develop next-generation liquid cooling modules and high-performance optical connectivity solutions tailored for AI data centre environments.

By combining Innolight’s expertise in optical modules and high-speed interconnect technologies with BDC’s experience in hyperscale data centre design and operations, the partners aim to enhance thermal efficiency, data transmission performance and system reliability for high-density AI workloads.

Together, these collaborations focus on the development of advanced liquid cooling architectures, high-density GPU cooling solutions and energy-optimised HVAC systems designed to support increasingly compute-intensive workloads.

BDC also inked a collaboration with Concord New Energy (CNE) to develop Singapore’s first floating hydrogen power generation solution designed for AI-ready digital infrastructure.

The initiative represents a significant milestone in advancing low-carbon energy pathways for the data centre sector.

The partnership reflects BDC’s long-term strategy to diversify power sourcing options while strengthening the resilience and sustainability of its digital infrastructure.

In addition to the collaboration with CNE, BDC will also work together with Nanyang Technological University to support the development of Singapore’s hydrogen ecosystem, accelerating research, engineering and the deployment of scalable clean energy technologies for digital infrastructure applications.

BDC also signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing (A*STAR IHPC) and HY to jointly assess the feasibility of nuclear power as an alternative clean energy source for next-generation AI-ready data centres.

By collaborating with strong local partners such as A*STAR IHPC and HY, BDC aims to explore innovative low-carbon energy pathways that will support Singapore’s sustainable digital growth while reinforcing the nation’s position as a trusted global technology hub.

Supporting research and development

These collaborations and pilot initiatives also contribute to talent development and workforce capability building in Singapore’s digital infrastructure and energy sectors.

Through joint research programmes, technology pilots and knowledge exchange with universities, research institutions and industry partners, BDC aims to support the development of specialised expertise in areas such as advanced energy systems, sustainable data centre design, and next-generation cooling and energy storage technologies.

The initiatives are also expected to create high-value job opportunities in Singapore, spanning engineering, energy systems research, digital infrastructure operations and advanced technology development.

By nurturing local talent and strengthening cross-disciplinary capabilities, these efforts help build a robust talent pipeline to support Singapore’s growing AI and digital infrastructure ecosystem.

BDC is also adopting an industry–academia–research collaboration model that brings together industry partners, universities and research institutes to accelerate innovation in AI infrastructure, advanced cooling technologies and sustainable energy systems. This integrated approach supports the development of new technologies while strengthening Singapore’s broader innovation ecosystem.

These partnerships represent a strategic step in BDC’s long-term roadmap to diversify power sourcing pathways, enhance energy security and future-proof its data centre portfolio amid evolving grid constraints and decarbonisation efforts.

Collectively, these initiatives contribute to Singapore’s ambitions to strengthen its position as a regional hub for sustainable digital infrastructure and AI innovation. They also support the country’s broader ambitions in sustainable energy innovation and the transition towards lower-carbon digital operations, while contributing to Singapore’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Read more about Bridge Data Centres’ planned investment and global partnerships on its website.