Airtrunk and ib vogt sign Malaysia’s first renewable virtual PPA for a data center

Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) hyperscale data centre specialist, AirTrunk, and international renewable energy development platform, ib vogt, have signed the first data centre renewable energy Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) under Malaysia’s Corporate Green Power Programme.

The CGPP is an initiative from the Suruhanjaya Tenaga (Malaysia’s Energy Commission) enabling businesses to sign VPPAs and participate in renewable energy projects in Malaysia. A quota of 800 megawatts (MW) of solar energy generation capacity is allocated to the programme and developers can apply for a maximum capacity of 30MW with a secured offtaker.

AirTrunk, as the offtaker, will procure renewable energy from the 29.99MW solar farm that ib vogt is currently developing under the CGPP. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2024.

Damien Spillane, Chief Technology Officer of AirTrunk, said: “Joining forces with ib vogt to lead Malaysia’s first data centre renewable energy VPPA demonstrates our dedication to pioneer sustainable action in the industry. As we continue to drive digitalisation in Malaysia through the development of our 150MW AirTrunk JHB1 data centre, this initiative marks yet another important step in our roadmap to achieve Net Zero and decarbonise APJ’s electricity grid.”

David Ludwig, Managing Director of ib vogt APAC, said: “The decarbonisation of supply chains in Southeast Asia is just beginning, and it is great to see Malaysia and AirTrunk taking a prominent position in the transition toward clean energy. It is through powerful partnerships with industry leaders like AirTrunk that ib vogt continues to be in a leading role to support corporations in meeting their renewable energy goals.”