<\/p>\n
The potential risk comes at a time when the data centre build-up is already facing a water problem.<\/p>\n
The energy shock sparked by the Iran war is increasingly coming up in conversations about data centre deals for Asian bankers, who have helped finance billions of dollars of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure across the region.<\/p>\n
While lending to the sector remains strong, rising power prices and energy security are becoming a bigger consideration in financing decisions, according to half a dozen bankers, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some of them have even programmed notifications to their digital devices to keep track of regional commodity prices.<\/p>\n AI data centres depend on a steady power supply to run servers and cooling systems. As the Middle East conflict drags on, Asia-Pacific energy grids face growing strain in powering both existing infrastructure and new build-outs. This could reshape the economics of constructing and financing them.<\/p>\n \u201cRising energy costs turn power from an operating-cost line item into a core credit variable,\u201d said Lee Poh Seng, executive director of the Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe bankability question is shifting from \u2018can this asset be built and leased?\u2019 to \u2018can this asset secure and manage energy credibly over time\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n The surge in AI demand has sparked a data centre boom, creating one of the largest lending opportunities in years for regional banks. Asia-Pacific is set to become the next global hub, with approximately US$800 billion in investment expected across the region by 2030, a February 2026 report by Deloitte showed.<\/p>\n The wave of deals may serve as a litmus test for banker confidence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In March, Bain Capital-owned Bridge Data Centres engaged banks for a potential new loan of up to US$6 billion, while Blue Owl Capital-backed Stack Infrastructure is seeking a borrowing of about A$3 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, BDC and DayOne Data Centers are looking to double last year\u2019s facilities to at least US$5 billion and as much as US$7 billion, respectively, underscoring the vast sums required to fuel expansion across the sector.<\/p>\n The potential risk from surging energy prices comes at a time when the data centre build-up is already facing a water problem in some places. Malaysia, which has emerged as a hub for the industry in Asia, in February said it had frozen the development of new facilities not used for AI due to power and water concerns.<\/p>\n Some data centre operators, such as Australia\u2019s NextDC \u2013 which has operating sites locally and is developing a pipeline in New Zealand, Malaysia and Japan \u2013 have pre-emptively embedded these risks into their contracts. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n NextDC \u201cis not experiencing any impact as we have historically worked closely with fuel providers under contracts that remediate the risk of delayed supply\u201d, Simon Cooper, chief development officer, wrote in an e-mailed response to questions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n S&P Global Ratings estimates showed that Australia, a major AI investment hub in the region, has a significant data centre pipeline with around 8,000 megawatts of projects planned.<\/p>\n Yet, amid rising fuel and energy costs, the scale of financing is unlikely to have a material impact on the nation\u2019s major banks, given their current credit ratings and strong balance sheets, said Gavin Gunning, Asia-Pacific sector lead for financial institutions ratings at S&P.<\/p>\n For some institutions, access to energy and water supply is already central to due diligence, some of the people said. Higher costs will ultimately be passed to the users of the data centres, such as Alibaba or Amazon, and it will be up to them to decide how much of a price increase they will be willing to bear, the people added.<\/p>\n Greater concerns around energy security will likely bring more scrutiny to power contracts, with investors increasingly looking to lock-in pricing, said May-Ann Lim, emeritus director of the Asia Cloud Computing Association, an industry body representing the cloud ecosystem across the region.<\/p>\n \u201cRising energy costs will not stop Asia\u2019s data centre buildout, but they will make financing far more discriminating,\u201d said Prof Lee of NUS.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The potential risk comes at a time when the data centre build-up is already facing a water problem. The energy shock sparked by the Iran war is increasingly coming up in conversations about data centre deals for Asian bankers, who have helped finance billions of dollars of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure across the region. 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