Tenaga Nasional's new Green Lane Pathway expected to attract more data centre firms to establish operations in Malaysia

The pathway aims to streamline the onboarding process for data centres, expedite approvals, and facilitate smoother setup of data centre operations in Malaysia.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has established the Green Lane Pathway, what it calls an exclusive pathway and strategic offering for Malaysia's data centre market to provide efficient and environmentally responsible solutions for data centre operators.

It aims to streamline the onboarding process for data centres, and also expedite approvals and facilitate a smoother setup of data centre operations in Malaysia.

The pathway was recently launched by Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Zafrul Aziz during a sharing session with the data centre community.

Speaking at the event, Minister Zafrul highlighted the importance of data centres in the digital world as the backbone that "supports the seamless functioning of interconnected systems", facilitating the storage, processing and delivery of vast amounts of information that support the modern way of life.

About the Green Lane Pathway

The Green Lane Pathway features fast-track supply offerings for electricity, where data centres will be connected three times faster than the normal delivery time. With this, the implementation period will be reduced significantly from 36-48 months to just 12 months, alongside a one-stop-centre (OSC) for data centre investors and dedicated support services.

This process is expected to attract more data centre companies to establish their operations in Malaysia. 

The Minister shared: "Malaysia has developed a strong reputation in the global data centre sector in Southeast Asia, thanks to our geo-strategic location as well as our conducive and attractive investment landscape. Our market share is expected to increase by US$2.08bn from 2021 to 2026, representing a CAGR of 15.72%.

"TNB’s Green Lane Pathway supports this goal, as well as the needs of data centres, whose presence in Malaysia will help realise our New Industrial Master Plan 2030 objectives to attract quality hi-tech investments that will provide more growth opportunities for SMEs and better-paying jobs for Malaysians."

In his welcoming remarks at the event, Dato’ Indera Ir. Baharin Din, President and Chief Executive Officer, TNB, further emphasised TNB’s commitment to be the reliable energy provider for all data centre projects: "Among the services provided by TNB is the establishment of the One-Stop-Centre (OSC) to fulfil all data centres’ requirements.

"We look forward to further extending our collaboration to all data centre providers by providing smart energy solutions, which have been tailor-made to fulfil our customers’ needs from our wholly-owned subsidiaries that specialise in green technology."

In line with this, TNB sealed five strategic partnerships through four electricity supply agreements at the event, with Yellowwood Properties, AirTrunk Malaysia, SIPP Power, and GDS IDC Malaysia. There was also a Memorandum of Understanding signed with MRANTI Corporation.

Baharin expressed: "These partnerships between TNB and data centre owners hold numerous benefits for all stakeholders involved. The development of data centres also creates job opportunities for Malaysians and benefits small and medium-sized businesses in the surrounding areas.

"Importantly, this collaboration directly creates demand for renewable energy in the data centre sector, supporting the country's efforts to reduce carbon emissions, achieve net zero emissions, and be 'coal free' by 2050,"

Lead image / Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Zafrul Aziz Facebook