No issues found during inspections of Bangkok data centres

No issues had been found during inspections of data centres in Bangkok, when monitoring measures were also explained, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Monday.

District offices were instructed last Wednesday to assess each facilities' energy use, safety systems and potential environmental impact on nearby residents, he told reporters. 

The inspectors reported there were 43 small-scale data centres located in commercial buildings, with some more than 20 years old, Mr Chadchart said. These small centres consumed up to 2 megawatts of electricity. 

Of the 43 data centres, 12 were licensed by the Department of Energy Business to store  more than 15,000 litres of fuel. The 31 others required no licence as they used small electrical generators.

There were six stand-alone data centres in the capital. Three were already in operation. The other three were still under construction and their licences were on hold, Mr Chadchart said.

Mr Chadchart said overall electricity use in Bangkok stood at 9,000MW. The data centres inspected were not hyper-scalers, and they consumed around 270MW, or less than 3% of total usage. 

The data centres also consumed less water than a large shopping mall does, he said.

Following the inspections, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had established monitoring measures in key areas in accordance with international standards and building control regulations. 

As for water and air pollution control, wastewater discharge must be inspected once a  month, and the facilities were required to install real-time PM2.5 monitoring systems.

Regarding public health and heat management, checks for Legionella bacteria from cooling towers must be made twice annually. Ambient temperatures in surrounding areas must also be controlled to ensure they do not change by more than 2-4°C, the governor said. 

In particular, data centres supporting artificial intelligence systems were required to limit temperature increases to no more than 2°C.

Average noise levels must not exceed 70 decibels, while peak noise levels during system testing must not exceed 115 decibels, to prevent noise pollution.

Mr Chadchart said the inspections found no adverse impact or additional public nuisance complaints.

He said the government's urban planning and zoning control measures were expected to be clarified within the next week. Until then, applications for new projects would be accepted, but consideration would be deferred until the guidelines were issued.

Asked about the 200,000 litres of fuel found illegally stockpiled at a data centre on Rama IX Road in Bangkok, deputy governor Pornphrom Vikitsreth said the Pollution Control Department had already investigated and resolved the matter.