Data centre shift is a green challenge

Operating data centres and training large AI models consumes electricity and generates emissions, Photo: Shutterstock

Vietnamese tech giant CMC is currently developing a hyperscale data centre project, after it approved the establishment of a new subsidiary named CMC ADI, with an initial charter capital of $12 million to carry out the plan in July 2024.

“The scheme is being implemented step by step. The facilities in Ho Chi Minh City are expected to be put into operation in 2028,” a representative of CMC said. “The initiative shows the group’s strategy of focusing on data centre and AI transformation to meet increasing local and global demands.”

Previously in 2022, CMC put into operation a data centre in Tan Thuan area, with a total investment of $60 million. The group plans to invest $500 million in such centres and related infrastructure over the next three years.

In February 2024, FPT held a topping-out ceremony for a data centre at FPT Danang Technology Urban Area. Currently, the group is also building its fourth such centre in the Saigon High-Tech Park.

Similarly, Viettel inaugurated the Viettel Hoa Lac Data Centre last April with a capacity of 30MW, the largest in Vietnam. This is Vietnam’s first data hub designed with capacity that is twice the average size, to satisfy the development trend of AI with requirements for high-performance chips, and increasing computing capacity.

Viettel will continue to invest in this area. According to its roadmap, by 2030, Viettel will increase its scale to 34,000 racks.

Hoang Van Ngoc, CEO of Viettel IDC, said, “The rapid development of technology, especially AI, has brought many opportunities for such services. To serve the market with full future technology services such as AI and cloud computing, the scale of domestic data centres must increase around 15 times.”

Other developments have been in the works in recent times. In May 2024, Singapore-headquartered ST Telemedia Global Data Centres announced a joint venture partnership with VNG Corporation for the development, construction, and operation of projects in Ho Chi Minh City. A new data facility under the deal is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2026 to provide cloud computing services globally.

Tech expert Minh Vu said, “With the 2023 Telecommunications Law taking effect from January, allowing full foreign investment in data centre services, the local market will be more attractive in the future, putting great pressure on Vietnamese businesses and the environment, as well.”

According to Viettel IDC, Vietnam is in the early stages of the cloud and data centre growth cycle. The growth potential for the next 10 years is huge, with the cloud segment growing at 22 per cent per year.

Seeing the growth potential, foreign companies are increasing cooperation and investing in hyperscale data centres in Vietnam. Some notable ventures include Gaw Capital’s 20MW facility in the Saigon High-Tech Park, Worldwide DC Solution’s 30MW project, and a collaboration between Japanese telecommunications giant NTT and DQ Tek. In 2024, Alibaba announced plans to set up a super data complex in Vietnam.

Le Hoai Nam, chairman of the Vietnam Cloud Computing and Data Centre Club, said, “AI data centres mark a major shift from traditional ones. They require high-speed internal connections, specialised hardware, and optimised designs to train AI models. The transition to AI requires a re-evaluation of traditional design and infrastructure to meet the growing demand for capacity, speed, and sustainability.”

Experts, however, worried that deploying AI data centres in Vietnam is facing many major challenges. Their energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with AI operations, especially for large-scale manufacturing models, have a major impact on the environment.

Vo Dai Chuyen, head of GreenNode’s Technical Systems and Infrastructure Department, said, “The first challenge is cost. This is a significant barrier because building an AI system requires a huge investment. In addition, green standards are becoming increasingly important as international customers require data centres to achieve green certifications.”

Nguyen Le Chau, CEO of cloud platform Sunteco, said, “Training a large AI model like GPT-3 consumes about 1,287MW/h, equivalent to the amount of electricity used on average by a US household over more than 120 years. And the emissions generated when training a single large AI model (11 billion parameters) can be as high as 284 tonnes of CO2, similar to the number of emissions over the lifetime of five cars.”

Hanoi set to launch city's main data centre The inauguration ceremony for Hanoi's main data centre will take place on December 6 at VNPT IDC Hoa Lac, part of VNPT Group, located in Hoa Lac High-Tech Park.

Low costs entice data centre investors to Vietnam Vietnam continues to be recognised as an attractive destination for data centre investors.

Vietnam's data centre market reached value of $654 million in 2024 Vietnam's data centre market was valued at $654 million in 2024, and is projected to reach $1.75 trillion by 2030, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.93 per cent, according to Research and Markets.