AWS confirms the launch of an AWS infrastructure region in Taiwan, which is scheduled to be operational in 2025.
Local databases can be expected to accelerate digital transformation, foster technological innovation, and enhance the quality and availability of cloud services in the region. AWS's designated Asia-Pacific (Taipei) region includes 3 Availability Zones (AZs) as mutual backups.
According to Young Yang, senior manager of specialist solutions architect and tech spokesman of Taiwan and Hong Kong, the data centers strictly adhere to their headquarters' standards. Each AZ is fitted with independent water and electricity supplies, and multiple colocation or data centers, all with high-speed network connections.
CloudMile mentions that cloud platforms excel at handling big data in the coming era of AI. Further development of diverse GPU data centers in Taiwan is expected as international cloud providers increase their scale of operations, which will greatly benefit local industries and the AI ecosystem. AWS data centers will improve cloud service performance, enhance data security and compliance, promote the IT industry's development, increase disaster recovery capabilities, and stimulate cloud market competition.
AWS plans to invest billions of dollars in Taiwan over the next 15 years. However, it has not disclosed the details about the total number of data centers, their locations, or the extent of personnel expansion.
According to Robert Wang, managing director of AWS Hong Kong and Taiwan, all investments are calculated based on the company's financial model of 15 years' return on investment. The varying usage rates of the corporate data centers are an indicator of power consumption. As cloud services consolidate their high demand, chip performance optimization, and power-saving methods can increase energy efficiency.
Following the setup of Google and Microsoft's data centers in Taiwan, cloud service providers bring attention to power consumption and other energy efficiency optimization issues that challenge long-term sustainability. iKala believes that rising electricity costs will inevitably raise the cloud service price, which can be mitigated by increasing operational, energy, and cooling efficiency.
According to Amazon headquarters, they plan to power all their operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 and become water-positive by 2030. Bloomberg New Energy Finance reports that Amazon has been the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy since 2020. Since Taiwan lags in renewable energy development, whether demand for the 3 AZs and other corporations will be met remains a mystery.
According to the Taipower official website, Taiwan's electrical power is sourced from: 44.1% natural gas, 34.1% coal, 9.9% renewable energy, 7% nuclear, 2.4% CHP, and 1.2% for hydroelectricity and fuel each.
The American Chamber of Commerce recently emphasized that Taiwan should strive to maintain electricity price stability and transparency. The Ministry of Economic Affairs responded on the 6th, stating that electricity rate reviews are conducted in accordance with Article 49 of the Electricity Act and the prescribed electricity pricing formula. Electricity prices are currently reviewed biannually in April and October, factoring in electricity industry costs and social conditions for price reviews.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs points out that electricity price inflation in Taiwan has been relatively modest after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War, with industrial electricity prices between 2020 and 2023 rising by 36% in Japan, 87% in North Korea, 34% in Germany, 160% in France, and 126% in the United Kingdom, compared to a moderate 30% rise in Taiwan. This demonstrates considerations for consumer prices and industrial competitiveness.
