Wood Mackenzie: Southeast Asia Data Center Pipeline to Grow to 9.4 GW by 2035

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Wood Mackenzie has released new research stating that the expansion of hyperscale data centers in Southeast Asia will create a new source of LNG demand. The firm estimates that by 2035, the Southeast Asia data center project pipeline will grow from the current 2.8 GW to 9.4 GW, more than tripling; over the same period, data center electricity demand will rise from 17 TWh to 57 TWh, with LNG demand expected to maintain annual growth of approximately 16%.

Wood Mackenzie's analysis covers major data center markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Its research suggests that, given the still limited commercialization of large-scale battery energy storage in Southeast Asia, combined-cycle gas turbines are currently one of the primary technologies capable of meeting the round-the-clock power supply requirements of data centers at scale. The additional electricity demand from regional data centers is thus directly linked to gas-fired power generation and LNG import demand.

Singapore currently derives approximately 95% of its electricity from natural gas. Wood Mackenzie expects that pipeline gas imports from Malaysia and Indonesia will gradually cease in the early 2030s, and by 2035, Singapore's gas supply dependence on LNG could rise to nearly 100%. The additional data center load will directly enter a power system dominated by natural gas.

Malaysia currently has approximately 3.9 GW of data center capacity under development, while simultaneously building new LNG regasification facilities to meet growing power demand. Wood Mackenzie expects that Malaysia's domestic natural gas production will gradually decline after peaking, and the dependence of new gas-fired power sources on imported LNG will increase accordingly.

Thailand's power system currently relies on natural gas for approximately two-thirds of its electricity. With declining natural gas production in the Gulf of Thailand and reduced pipeline gas supply from Myanmar, Wood Mackenzie expects that by 2035, LNG will account for more than 50% of Thailand's natural gas supply. The additional data center load will expand LNG import volumes alongside existing gas-fired power generation demand.

Indonesia's Batam Island is emerging as the third major node in the Singapore–Johor–Riau Islands data center corridor, with a current project pipeline exceeding 450 MW. Wood Mackenzie identifies power transmission capacity and grid reliability as the primary constraints on further data center expansion in the area.

Unlike Southeast Asia, Wood Mackenzie expects that India's data center expansion will not generate LNG demand on a comparable scale. India's data center capacity is projected to grow to nearly 12 GW by 2035, with related investment expected to reach $145 billion during 2024–2030, but the cost of LNG-fired power generation in India is approximately 2–3 times that of renewable energy paired with battery storage. Natural gas currently accounts for less than 2% of India's power generation mix, and this share is expected to remain at a low level through 2035.