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The Blueprint

Energy Trilemma: Digitalisation

Energy Trilemma: Digitalisation

  • With Singapore’s expanding digital economy, rising energy pressures demand more efficient and sustainable supplies.
  • Turning these challenges into opportunities, policies like the Green Data Center Roadmap and proactive corporate ESG strategies can drive resilience and sustainable growth.

Economic growth and energy consumption often have a directly proportional relationship. Increase in economic performance also entails an increase in energy consumption. With our daily lives being dependent on a reliable energy supply, without energy, we stand to lose productivity and the convenience of our daily lives. Since 2010, global internet traffic has increased 25-fold, while the number of internet users has more than doubled. With digitalisation happening worldwide, countries are becoming increasingly more power-hungry. Yet sustainable supplies of energy are not rising equally as quickly as demand. It is, hence, a pressing need to manage this appetite to ensure a sustained future of growth for all.

Fig.1: Data Center

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the most utilized tools in today’s digital era. What began with simple voice commands like “Hey Siri!” has quickly evolved into a world where society relies heavily on advanced AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Google Gemini. Behind this rapid digitalisation lies the backbone of modern technology, data centers. As companies compete for dominance in Big Data to maximise profits, the demand for data infrastructures continues to surge.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers and transmission networks already account for about 1 – 1.5% of global electricity use, a figure expected to rise as more facilities are built. This growing energy demand highlights the urgent need to find sustainable energy solutions while balancing the world’s energy needs.

Fig.2: Singapore Energy Distribution (Source: Energy Market Authority)

Singapore, as a rising digital hub, faces mounting challenges in managing its energy needs. The nation’s limited natural resources mean it relies heavily on energy imports, leaving its supply less secure than in resource-rich countries. This underscores the energy trilemma – the need to balance reliability, affordability, and sustainability in electricity generation and consumption. The stakes are especially high for Singapore, which hosts more than 70 data centers that already account for over 7% of the country’s total electricity use. With businesses increasingly adopting AI-driven processes, this share is poised to grow, intensifying the pressure to find sustainable and resilient energy solutions. If Singapore does not find ways to improve the energy efficiency of its data centers or expand its energy supply, it could face challenges in maintaining its competitive edge in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. With the digital economy contributing to approximately 17% of Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP), the loss of global AI competitiveness may dampen potential investment returns. Fundamentally, slower economic growth and higher operational costs could limit the profitability of businesses reliant on energy-intensive digital infrastructure.

Beyond the rising energy demands of data centers, Singapore’s industries also exert significant pressure on the nation’s energy system. As a high-value manufacturing hub, Singapore is home to energy-intensive sectors such as petrochemicals, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. These industries rely on large amounts of energy to power advanced machinery and sustain round-the-clock operations. Given the petrochemical and refining sector’s scale and global significance, this sector alone contributes about 20% of Singapore’s energy use. To further enhance Singapore’s economic growth, it is striving to attract more high-tech and precision manufacturing investments, which will increase energy demands. The competition between industrial activity, digital infrastructure, and households’ needs for limited energy resources makes the pursuit of cleaner and more efficient energy solutions all the more critical.

Recognising these challenges, the Green Data Center Roadmap helps to achieve the Resilient Future goals within the SG Green Plan 2030. The roadmap not only addresses the urgent need for energy efficiency but also creates growth opportunities. By providing grants to help companies upgrade their facilities to greener standards, the government helps data centers stay competitive while reducing their environmental footprint. Together with Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) increased regulatory pressures by raising energy efficiency standards at the end of 2024. Additionally, the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) allows green operators to tap into grants offered by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and other agencies that could defray operating costs by around 30% or more, in certain cases. For operators, this is more than just compliance. It is a chance to future-proof operations, lower long-term costs, and align with global sustainability demands. Despite the rising energy pressures driven by AI adoption, these initiatives ensure that companies can turn a potential strain into a springboard for sustainable digital growth.

From an investment perspective, companies that prepare for long term challenges and sieze near term business opportunities stand out. Such companies demonstrate resilience and contribute positively to an ever-changing landscape. With rising climate regulations and Singapore’s energy trilemma, companies that actively adapt and align with these shifts can stay ahead. For this reason, we reward firms that manage their double materiality risks, and we actively engage with them to drive greater action towards resilient and future-ready operations.

The Blueprint

With the ever-changing landscape around us, it can get overwhelming to stay up-to-date. The Blueprint highlights pertinent global Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues and their importance to investors and the wider community. We look forward to engaging in discussions about the interconnections between climate, nature, and social outcomes that impact our investments and our futures.

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