Data Centre Space in Malaysia 2026: What Amperage You Actually Need, and Which Factories Can Carry It
Not every data centre needs 100 MW. Edge nodes, colocation halls and AI inference racks fit inside existing high-power factories. Here is the amps-to-MW maths, the TNB Green Lane reality, and where the units at 3000A and above are.
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- Peter TanREN 12771 · 016-666 6872
Key Takeaways
- Not every data centre is a hyperscale campus. Edge nodes, colocation halls, AI inference pods and disaster-recovery sites run at 1 to 5 MW, which existing high-power factories can carry.
- The maths: at 415V three-phase, power factor 0.9, 1 amp ≈ 0.65 kW. A 3,000A intake is roughly 1.94 MW total, which at PUE 1.5 leaves about 1.3 MW of IT load.
- FactoryHub lists units at 3,000A and above, for rent and for sale, topping out at 8,000A (about 5.2 MW total, roughly 3.4 MW IT load at PUE 1.5).
- Port Klang holds most of the rental units at 2,000A+, at an average asking rent of RM1.71 psf per month at that power level.
- TNB's Green Lane Pathway cuts data centre grid connection from 36 to 48 months down to about 12 months, and had delivered 33 projects as of March 2026.
- If you need 50 MW or more, you need land and a grid conversation, not a factory. We can run either brief.
Start With the Honest Question: How Big Is Your Data Centre Really
Malaysia's data centre story is dominated by hyperscale headlines, and those numbers distort what most operators actually need. Johor's pipeline stands at roughly 4.0 GW of upcoming capacity, with about 700 MW under construction and 3.3 GW planned or announced, and STACK Infrastructure is building a 220 MW campus in Johor Bahru with first delivery in Q4 2026, powered off TNB's 275kV infrastructure with an on-site substation.
None of that is a shed conversation. A 220 MW campus is a land, grid and substation project measured in years.
But a very large share of real demand is not that. It is:
- Edge and regional nodes at 0.5 to 3 MW, placed for latency rather than scale.
- Enterprise private halls at 1 to 2 MW, often moving out of a basement server room.
- AI inference pods, dense but small in footprint, where power per rack matters more than total floor area.
- Disaster recovery and secondary sites, deliberately located away from the primary campus.
- Colocation operators taking a shell and fitting it out progressively.
All of those fit inside an existing industrial building, provided the power is already there. That is the market this article is about, and it is the one where a property agent can genuinely move faster than a grid application.
Amps to MW to IT Load: the Conversion That Decides Everything
Malaysian industrial supply is 415V three-phase. At power factor 0.9, usable load is roughly 0.65 kW per amp:
| TNB intake (amps) | Approx. usable load | In MW | What it realistically runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400A | ~259 kW | ~0.26 MW | Light assembly, storage, small workshop |
| 1,000A | ~647 kW | ~0.65 MW | Standard production line, cold storage, mid-size plant |
| 1,500A | ~970 kW | ~0.97 MW | Multi-line assembly, moderate process heating |
| 2,000A | ~1,294 kW | ~1.29 MW | Battery module / pack assembly, dry room, small edge data hall |
| 3,000A | ~1,940 kW | ~1.94 MW | Cell finishing lines, formation & aging, ~1.3 MW IT load at PUE 1.5 |
| 6,000A | ~3,881 kW | ~3.88 MW | Heavy process plant, ~2.6 MW IT load at PUE 1.5 |
| 8,000A | ~5,175 kW | ~5.17 MW | Largest single intake on FactoryHub today, ~3.4 MW IT load at PUE 1.5 |
Then apply PUE. If the facility runs at PUE 1.5, IT load is total load divided by 1.5:
| TNB intake | Total load | IT load at PUE 1.5 | IT load at PUE 1.3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000A | ~1.29 MW | ~0.86 MW | ~1.00 MW |
| 3,000A | ~1.94 MW | ~1.29 MW | ~1.49 MW |
| 6,000A | ~3.88 MW | ~2.59 MW | ~2.99 MW |
| 8,000A | ~5.18 MW | ~3.45 MW | ~3.98 MW |
Put concretely: a 6,000A unit supports roughly 2.6 MW of IT load at PUE 1.5. At an average 8 kW per rack that is around 320 racks, and at 15 kW per rack for denser AI workloads, about 170 racks. That is a serious regional facility, and it exists today as rentable industrial stock.
Where the High-Power Stock Actually Is
FactoryHub records a confirmed amperage figure on its active listings, so stock can be filtered by power band: 1,000 to 1,499A, 1,500 to 1,999A, 2,000 to 2,999A, and 3,000A and above.
By area, at 1,000A and above:
| Area | Highest intake seen | Avg asking rent psf | Avg asking sale psf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Klang | 8,000A | RM1.77 | RM420 |
| Kapar | 3,500A | RM1.81 | RM416 |
| Shah Alam | 6,000A | RM2.06 | RM498 |
| Telok Panglima Garang | 5,800A | RM1.70 | RM346 |
| Bandar Puteri Klang | 6,000A | RM3.46 | - |
| Subang | 1,600A | RM2.15 | - |
| Banting | 2,000A | - | RM290 |
| Jenjarom | 1,000A | - | RM372 |
At 2,000A and above on the rental side, the concentration is stark: Port Klang holds most of the units, at an average asking rent of RM1.71 psf per month, with Shah Alam (RM2.10 psf), Kapar, Bandar Puteri Klang (up to 6,000A) and Semenyih making up the rest. If your brief is 2 MW or more in an existing building, Port Klang is where the search starts whether you like the location or not.
Browse: factories for rent in Port Klang, factories for sale in Port Klang, Shah Alam for rent. To filter by amperage yourself, use search factories by technical specs.
What Else to Check Beyond Amps
Power gets you on the shortlist. These decide whether the building actually works:
- Floor loading. Racks, UPS strings and battery rooms are heavy. Ask for tonnes per m² as a design figure, and check it specifically for the area where the battery room and generators will sit.
- Clear height. You need room for containment, cable trays and CRAC units above the racks. Below about 6 m usable becomes awkward.
- Structural roof capacity. Chillers and condensers usually go on the roof, and older industrial roofs were not designed for that load.
- Generator yard and fuel storage. Space for standby generation, bunded fuel, and the acoustic implications for neighbours.
- Water. Not just supply, but discharge and treatment if you are using evaporative cooling.
- Feed redundancy. Is the intake a single feed? Where does the second come from, and how far is the nearest substation?
- Fibre. Which carriers are physically in the road, and what is the cost and lead time to bring in a second diverse route.
- Landlord and lease terms. Data centre fit-outs are heavy and long-lived. Reinstatement clauses and lease tenor matter far more than for a normal warehouse tenancy.
TNB, the Green Lane, and Realistic Timelines
If the building's existing intake is not enough, the upgrade path runs through TNB. Two things are worth knowing.
The Green Lane Pathway exists and it works. TNB established it specifically for the data centre market, cutting connection time from the normal 36 to 48 months down to about 12 months, roughly three times faster, with a one-stop centre for data centre investors. As of March 2026, 33 projects had been delivered under the framework. TNB is also running a RM43 billion grid modernisation programme geared to data centre demand growth.
But 12 months is still 12 months. If your service has to be live sooner than that, the answer is not an upgrade application, it is finding a building where the intake is already energised at the level you need. That is exactly what the existing units at 3,000A and above are for.
Rent or Buy for a Data Centre Facility
Rent suits operators who want to be live fast, are proving a market, or want to keep capital in equipment rather than real estate. The constraint is lease tenor: a serious fit-out needs a lease long enough to amortise it, plus renewal options, plus a landlord who will accept structural and electrical modifications.
Buy suits operators committing to a location for a decade or more, where the fit-out value would be stranded under a lease, or where you want to control expansion on adjacent land. It is also usually the answer if you need to build a substation.
Land and build is the route above roughly 10 MW, or where the shell requirements (height, structural, security perimeter, generator yard) simply are not met by existing stock. See industrial land in Selangor or ask us to run a build-to-suit brief.
We handle all three. Tell us the target IT load, the go-live date and whether you are renting or buying, and we will come back with what exists.
A Practical Brief Template
- Target IT load in MW, and expected PUE.
- Required intake in amps, and whether it must be energised on day one.
- Rack count and density in kW per rack.
- Floor area and clear height.
- Redundancy requirement: N, N+1, 2N.
- Go-live date, and whether a 12-month TNB path is acceptable.
- Rent or buy, and target lease tenor if renting.
For the projects themselves, the land deals and what they mean for nearby factory and land demand, see our data centre Banting, Dengkil and Sepang guide.
If your load is heading past what a low-voltage supply can carry, read our TNB substation guide for factories: when you need one, compact vs indoor substations, the land TNB needs and the connection charges.
Running cost matters as much as capacity: our TNB tariff 2026 guide for factories explains industrial rates, Time of Use, maximum demand and the AFA surcharge with worked examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many amps does a data centre need in Malaysia?
It depends entirely on IT load. At 415V three-phase and power factor 0.9, roughly 0.65 kW per amp, so 2,000A gives about 1.29 MW total or 0.86 MW IT load at PUE 1.5; 3,000A gives about 1.94 MW total or 1.29 MW IT load; 6,000A gives about 3.88 MW total or 2.59 MW IT load. Hyperscale campuses at 100 MW and above are land and grid projects, not factory conversions.
Can I run a data centre in an existing factory in Malaysia?
Yes, for edge nodes, enterprise private halls, AI inference pods, disaster recovery sites and small colocation facilities in the 0.5 to 5 MW range, provided the intake is already energised. FactoryHub lists units at 3,000A and above for rent and for sale, with the largest single intake at 8,000A. Beyond amps you need to check floor loading, clear height, roof capacity for chillers, generator yard space, water and fibre routes.
How long does it take to get a high-power electricity supply for a data centre in Malaysia?
TNB's Green Lane Pathway cuts data centre connection from the normal 36 to 48 months down to about 12 months, roughly three times faster, with a dedicated one-stop centre. As of March 2026, 33 projects had been delivered under the framework. If you need to be live sooner than 12 months, take a building where the supply is already energised rather than applying for an upgrade.
Where in Selangor can I find a factory with 3000A or more?
At 2,000A and above on the rental side, most available units are in Port Klang, at an average asking rent of RM1.71 psf per month, with the remainder in Shah Alam, Kapar, Bandar Puteri Klang and Semenyih. Units at 3,000A and above are listed for both sale and rent. You can filter by amperage on the search by technical specs page.
What is the rent for a high-power industrial building in Selangor?
For units at 1,000A and above, average asking rent is about RM1.77 psf per month in Port Klang, RM1.81 in Kapar, RM2.06 in Shah Alam, RM2.15 in Subang and RM3.46 in Bandar Puteri Klang. At 2,000A and above the Port Klang average is RM1.71 psf. These are asking figures from live listings, not transacted rents.
Should I rent or buy a building for a data centre?
Rent if speed to market matters most and you can secure a lease tenor long enough to amortise the fit-out, with a landlord who accepts structural and electrical modification. Buy if you are committing to the location long term, need to build a substation, or want to control adjacent expansion land. Above roughly 10 MW, land plus a purpose-built facility is usually the only realistic route.
Is Selangor or Johor better for a data centre in Malaysia?
Johor carries the hyperscale pipeline, roughly 4.0 GW of upcoming capacity with about 700 MW under construction, and is where the largest campuses are landing. Selangor suits latency-sensitive and enterprise facilities that need to be close to Kuala Lumpur, and a second wave of mega-campuses is breaking ground beyond Johor including at Serendah in Selangor and Springhill in Negeri Sembilan. For sub-5 MW facilities in existing buildings, Selangor has the deeper stock of high-power industrial units.
Buying or renting, talk to us
Whether you want to rent while you prove the line out, or buy and commit to a site, we handle both. FactoryHub is the industrial-only platform of Peter Tan (REN 12771) and Jason Low (PEA 1478), both registered with BOVAEP under CID Realtors Sdn Bhd, and we co-broke across the whole market, so if the right unit is another agent's listing we will still put it in front of you.
Send us the four numbers that decide everything: required amps, built-up area, floor loading and target occupation date. We come back with what actually exists, including what is not advertised publicly.
| Contact | Registration | Mobile / WhatsApp | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Tan | REN 12771 | +6016-666 6872 | peterindustrial | peter@factoryhub.my |
| Jason Low | PEA 1478 | +6012-288 1834 | massiveaction | jason@factoryhub.my |
Most enquiries get a first reply within a few hours, complex briefs within two working days. You can also filter the live inventory yourself by power, ceiling height and floor loading on the search factories by technical specs page.
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Focused on Malaysia industrial real-estate research and transactions across the Klang Valley and Nilai corridors. Every article is grounded in our own deal flow and licensed-agent sources.
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