Malaysia is betting on data centers to boost its economy. But experts warn they come at a price.
Winson Lau has always had contingency plans. Lau relies on water and electricity to operate his thriving export business in Malaysia’s Johor province. The province is on track to have at least 1.6 gigawatts of data centers at any given moment from nearly nothing in 2019, making it the fastest-growing data center market in Southeast Asia, according to a report published in April.