Southeast Asia 67 MW AIDC Project Launched to Accelerate Strategic Transformation by Jiyuan Holdings (00990)

According to the Zhitong Finance App, Zhiyuan Holdings (00990) has once again made significant progress in its artificial intelligence infrastructure business.

On October 7, the company announced the latest trends in the AI data center project in Penang, Malaysia. The planned IT capacity of the project is 67 megawatts. The company has concluded a data center hosting service agreement with an initial period of 10 years for the total planned IT capacity, and has signed a construction project agreement for the main construction and mechanical and electrical engineering of the project. The relevant preliminary projects have been authorized to carry out work.

67MW data center targets ten-year long customers ahead of schedule

According to the announcement, a subsidiary of Zhiyuan Holdings signed a data center hosting master service agreement with an independent third party customer on October 2, covering 67 MW of IT capacity planned for the project.

The initial term of the agreement is ten years, and the calculation starts after the facility passes the agreed inspection and enters the service phase. After the service starts, the customer must pay the full monthly recurring service fee according to the agreed capacity, and the electricity bill is settled according to actual usage.

Based on commercial confidentiality arrangements, the company did not disclose customer names and specific business information, nor did it disclose the amount of the agreement. Judging from the disclosure of information alone, 67MW of IT capacity has already entered the ranks of large-scale data centers. However, clauses such as “Customers must pay the full monthly recurring service fee according to the agreed capacity, not depending on actual usage” reflect the confidence of both parties to the contract about the boom in computing power demand in Southeast Asia.

Construction of the project is progressing simultaneously, and it is planned to be completed step by step in the first half of 2027

While the demand side is clear, the project construction side is also progressing simultaneously.

According to the same announcement, the company's subsidiary has partnered with Longmotive DC Solutions Pte, a well-known data center engineering and construction company in Southeast Asia. Ltd. has entered into a letter of intent for construction projects to appoint the latter to be responsible for the main construction and mechanical and electrical works of the project.

The expected scope of the project covers main construction, civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, supply and installation of designated equipment, infrastructure engineering, testing and commissioning, and related construction design and coordination. The total package price for the scope of the project listed in the letter of intent was US$221.1 million.

It is worth noting that the letter of intent has authorized the other party to carry out preliminary and preliminary work such as site mobilization, construction planning, procurement, document review, and site preparation from October 1.

According to the disclosed engineering schedule, the planned 67MW IT capacity of the project will be completed in stages. The 26MW portion is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2027, with a 15-day grace period; the remaining 41 MW portion is scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2027.

Benefiting from Southeast Asia's wave of computing power infrastructure to accelerate AIDC business transformation

Going back over the past six months, it can be said that Zhiyuan Holdings' AIDC project in Malaysia is progressing rapidly.

In May of this year, for the first time, the company clearly proposed in an announcement that it would expand its business around “AI infrastructure-related industrial applications”. Since then, the company further explained the strategic transformation plan in the 2026 mid-term report and stated that it “has begun planning and implementing related work.”

On September 7, the company's first artificial intelligence data center project was approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia. After entering October, the company further implemented the Penang project site and implemented Changxie customers and project builders.

Behind the transformation of Zhiyuan Holdings' AIDC business is a wave of AI and cloud infrastructure development that continues to heat up in Southeast Asia. According to the report “Artificial Intelligence in Southeast Asia: An Era of Opportunity” released by McKinsey in the first half of the year, competition between Chinese and US tech giants is turning Southeast Asia into a strategic highland for AI and cloud computing. The three giants Google, Amazon, and Microsoft alone have promised to invest more than 10 billion US dollars in AI infrastructure in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific Data Center Report recently released by Cushman & Wakefield also shows that in Johor, one of Malaysia's largest data center clusters, the operating capacity is about 897 megawatts, while the hosting vacancy rate is only 0.7%.