Driven by the global wave of digitization and artificial intelligence, the strategic position of data centers as critical infrastructure is increasingly prominent. Recently, Singapore's Keppel Group announced an important layout: its communications division has signed an agreement with Australia's Lightwood Group to locate a large data center near Mawell, Victoria. This site selection will add up to 720 megawatts of total power capacity to Keppel's development pipeline, and increase the total scale of its "power reserve pool" in the Asia Pacific region to over 1 gigawatt. This measure not only significantly enhances Keppel's competitiveness in the rapidly growing Asia Pacific data center market, but also reflects its unique "power banking" investment and development strategy.

Strategic site selection and capital ingenuity of the "power bank" model

The locked in plot covers an area of 123 hectares and is located within the Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone in the southeast of Melbourne, with a strategically valuable geographical location. The location is situated at one of the largest power nodes in Victoria, with the potential to establish dedicated transmission connections with nearby power terminals. In the future, the project may even bypass the local distribution grid and directly obtain efficient and stable power supply. In addition, the land has been clearly planned for data center use, not only with existing water infrastructure, but also adjacent to the intercity dark fiber network connecting Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra, providing unique "start now" conditions for the construction of a large-scale data center cluster.

The "power bank" strategy adopted by Jibao this time is the core of its efficient capital operation. According to the agreement, before the private data center fund officially commits to long-term leasing, Jibao only needs to pay an annual access fee to enter the land in advance for key pre development activities such as planning approval, locking in power and water contracts, etc. This model enables Keppel to lock in core strategic resources including electricity, water, and fiber optic in advance and exclusively with minimal upfront capital expenditures, effectively avoiding the risks of resource competition and cost increases in the later stages. As Manjot Singh Mann, CEO of Keppel Communications, has stated, this strategy enables the company to quickly and massively deliver immediately deployable capacity, significantly reducing the development to delivery cycle while avoiding excessive burden on the balance sheet.

Targeting strong market demand

Jibao's heavy holdings in Australia this time are based on a profound understanding of the local market fundamentals. The Australian data center market is renowned for its stable regulatory environment, reliable energy infrastructure, and strict data security requirements. Melbourne is one of the fastest-growing data center markets in Australia, with significant advantages in terms of lower electricity and land costs compared to other major cities. As of the fourth quarter of 2025, the hosting vacancy rate of Melbourne data centers has dropped to 4%, reflecting extremely strong market demand, and it is expected that growth will continue to be strong in the next decade.

Currently, Jibao is in deep negotiations with multiple large-scale cloud service providers and emerging cloud operators regarding the future capacity of the Mower site selection. This solid potential customer base directly supports the growth of its private data center fund. Lee Hui Fang, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Jibao Data Center, pointed out that this development model of locking resources first and investing large amounts of capital after the demand is clear effectively enhances the exclusivity and certainty of the project pipeline, which can bring more stable growth and higher returns to fund investors (limited partners). Its latest Keppel Data Centre Fund III has gained sustained favor from global institutional investors, with assets under management exceeding SGD 2.7 billion. As the development pipeline with a total scale exceeding 1GW gradually lands, it is expected to increase the management scale of Keppel's data center fund by about SGD 10 billion, further consolidating its leading position in the global digital infrastructure investment field.Editor/Cheng Liting