At Data Centre World Asia in Singapore, industry leaders said capital sources and deal structures are changing fast as projects grow larger and AI-driven demand raises the bar on revenue visibility, power and supply-chain risk.
Risk assessment has shifted to include power availability, chip supply, permitting and grid capacity as core determinants of project economics and financeability.
# What happened At Data Centre World Asia during Tech Week Singapore 2026, a panel titled "How Financing Models are Changing to Fuel Data Centre Expansion?" focused on how capital is reshaping the region's digital infrastructure build-out. Panelists included Ong Kok Chye (DayOne Data Centers), Jean Monson (MUFG), Loh Hwee Long (Keppel DC REIT), Sajal Kishore (Fitch Ratings) and Rebecca Ng (Digital Realty).
# Why this matters Demand for data centre capacity across Asia-Pacific is accelerating because of AI adoption, cloud growth and enterprise digital initiatives. Projects are getting larger and more capital-intensive. That makes access to the right kind of capital—sizeable, long-term and structured—just as important as land, power and customers.
# How financing is changing Historically, regional data centre builds relied heavily on traditional bank loans. The panel reported a clear shift: the capital stack is now broader. Infrastructure funds, sovereign wealth funds, pension investors, REITs, private credit providers and strategic partners are all participating. New structures include platform-level investments, joint ventures and blended finance that spread risk and scale up deployment capacity.
# Changing risk profile The sector's risk checklist has broadened. Panelists highlighted that financiers now assess:
These factors influence project economics and the ability to attract institutional capital.
# Repositioning data centres as infrastructure The discussion emphasized a conceptual shift: data centres are being treated more like critical infrastructure—similar to transport, utilities and energy assets—rather than purely technical facilities. That repositioning is drawing larger pools of institutional capital who traditionally focused on infrastructure, which could help fund multi-hundred-megawatt projects.
# What this implies for developers and investors Developers that can demonstrate stable, contract-backed revenue streams and secure energy and chip supply will find it easier to assemble diverse capital. Financing innovation—structuring platforms, joint ventures and blended instruments—will determine which developers scale effectively as demand outpaces capacity.
# Bottom line Technology remains a major driver of demand, but the pace and shape of Asia's data centre expansion will be determined by the market's ability to attract and structure capital at scale, while managing energy, supply-chain and regulatory risks.
"There are physical limits to how quickly you can build data centers at scale," Kevin Guan, chief investment officer of Bridge Data Centres, said.
Will the region's demand for artificial intelligence services justify the enormous outlays of money and resources?
Published by NES Fircroft 17 Sep 2026 | Recruitment & HR News Top Data Centre Projects in APAC APAC is becoming the world's fastest-growing data centre market, expecting to see capacity reach around 30GW by 2027/28, but demand is forecast to outstrip available supply. Investment is rising in both established markets an
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