by Brianna Crandall — April 16, 2012—Google Inc. started construction April 3 on a data center in Taiwan that is expected to help establish the country as one of Asia’s top information and logistics hubs, besides showcasing best-practice eco-initiatives. The $300 million facility is the U.S. Internet heavyweight’s third such venture in Asia after Hong Kong and Singapore, and is expected to be up and running by the second half of 2013.
According to Google, the center is part of its drive to provide regional clients with faster and more reliable access to its services, particularly since more new Internet users come online every day in Asia than anywhere else in the world.
The center will be a test-bed for cutting-edge technology such as nighttime cooling, thermal energy storage and other custom solutions designed to help the facility cut normal power usage by 50 percent, making it one of the most efficient and environmental friendly facilities in Asia.
Google has already introduced many creative initiatives for keeping its data centers cool worldwide, including using outside air in a cold climate, cooling with seawater, and reusing water from a local source, but this will be the company’s first time using thermal energy storage systems.
