Google Pumps $66m Into Taiwan Data Centre

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$600m building was opened in December 2013 and uses nighttime cooling for efficiency

Google is investing $66m in its data centre in Taiwan.

The Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs said last week that it has approved the move which will see the money pumped into the data centre situated in Changhua County, Central Taiwan.

‘Most efficient’ data centre

The data centre was part of an initial $600m investment into the country. Opened in December 2013, Google claims that it is one of Asia’s most efficient and environmentally friendly data centres because of its use of nighttime cooling and thermal energy storage.

Google said: “The system works by cooling water at night, when temperatures are cooler, storing the cooled water in large insulated tanks where it retains it’s temperature before being pumped throughout the facility to cool our servers during the day. A team of just over 60 full time Googlers keeps the site running, alongside a number of part- and full-time contractors in a variety of roles, from computer technicians to electrical and mechanical engineers to caterers.”

Google's data centre in Taiwan
Google’s data centre in Taiwan

In December 2014, a local paper in the region said the investment could prompt Microsoft to build a data centre in the same regions.

Unnamed sources were cited by The Economic Daily as claiming Microsoft plans to invest $600m into data centre builds in Taiwan this year.

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