Chinese company U Power, through its joint venture Hydro Data JV, will develop an integrated energy solution for a 100 MW data center in Thailand’s Rayong province.
The project partners include infrastructure developer CEWA Group and hydrogen systems manufacturer Jiangsu Guofu Hydrogen Energy Equipment.
The initiative will begin with a pilot data center with a capacity of 3 MW. This phase is necessary to verify the technological efficiency and economic model before full-scale expansion.
Hydro Data JV is responsible for the integration and management of the energy system using AI. Guofu Hydrogen Energy will supply and service the generation equipment. CEWA provides local infrastructure.
U Power plans to register a subsidiary in Thailand by the end of July, with operational launch within 90 days thereafter.
The enterprise was established in April in collaboration with Jiangsu Guofu Hydrogen Energy Equipment and Cloud Digital Chain Limited.
The company aims to profit from the design, supply, installation, operation, and energy management. The system is expected to provide both primary and backup power to the data center.
The project enters a rapidly growing market. In early May, the Thailand Board of Investment approved six major initiatives worth 958 billion baht (~$29 billion). Three of these involve data centers and hosting, totaling 913 billion baht (~$27 billion).
These include the expansion of TikTok’s infrastructure, a 200 MW data center by DAMAC Group, and a 134 MW project by Bridge Data Centres.
Back in March, journalists from The Economist predicted an era of space-based data centers.