The increasing demand for cloud computing among SMEs, government regulations for local data security, and growing investment by domestic players are some of the major factors driving the demand for data centers in the country.
Key Highlights
- Under construction IT load capacity: The upcoming IT load capacity of the Saudi Arabian data center rack market is expected to reach 850 MW by 2029. Saudi Arabia's electricity consumption increased by 4.23% Y-o-Y to 301,600 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2021, compared to 289,330 GWh in 2020.
- Under construction raised floor space: The country's construction of raised floor area is expected to increase to 3.4 million sq. ft by 2029.
- Planned racks: The country's total number of racks to be installed is expected to reach 1,70,000 units by 2029. Riyadh is expected to house the maximum number of racks by 2029.
- Planned submarine cables: There are more than 10 submarine cable systems connecting Saudi Arabia, and many are under construction.
Saudi Arabia Data Center Power Market Trends
Switched PDU is Anticipated to be the Fastest Growing Segment
- Switched PDUs are important in remote deployments because they allow users to restart servers and restore service without physically visiting the data center site. It also helps users save energy and reduce costs by enabling them to turn off devices that are not in use. In the event of a utility power failure, non-essential loads can be shut down to maximize UPS uptime.
- Increased internet and social media penetration across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of 5G services, and improved inland connectivity make the Saudi Arabian data center power market attractive for investors. The introduction of the Personal Data Protection Act in the country will protect the confidentiality of citizens' data and further stimulate the data center and data center power equipment supply market.
- A switched PDU is a type of smart rack PDU that can turn on or off single outlets or groups of outlets on the PDU. Switched PDUs allow users to control devices and provide power remotely in a specific order. It also allows the user to delay the power-on sequence, eliminating power sags and extending device life.
- From 2022 onwards, mobile data traffic increased due to the expansion of 5G coverage. 5G service in Saudi Arabia expanded in the fourth quarter of 2020 and further reached seven cities and provinces. 5G connectivity has been established in 51 of the different provinces and cities in Saudi Arabia. Approximately 23% of the total volume is 5G hardware, including mobile phones. The acceleration of key IoT adoption is expected to continue rapidly over the next few years, including use cases such as wearables for e-health, inventory tracking for logistics, pollution monitoring, smart meters, and monitoring and tracking tools for smart manufacturing. The rising data traffic would create a demand for DC facilities with smart PDU systems.
- Switched PDUs with outlet metering to help users monitor power consumption and available capacity. Easily understand actual power consumption at the device level, allowing users to compare efficiencies, improve capacity planning, increase utilization of existing resources, and allocate costs to specific customers or business units. The above-mentioned instances and benefits of switched PDU would accelerate the growth of the segment during the forecast period.
IT and Telecommunication is Anticipated to be the Largest Segment
- To advance the Vision 2030 goals of digital transformation through e-commerce, digital education, digital health, smart cities, national data, and e-government, MCIT aims to develop a strong, state-of-the-art digital infrastructure. Saudi Arabia's ICT strategy for this year calls for creating more than 25,000 new jobs, growing the IT industry and new technologies by 50%, and increasing the sector's contribution to GDP by USD 13.3 billion.
- As digitization increases, the government's focus is now on establishing cloud services. Under Saudi Vision 2030, foreign investment is encouraged, particularly in the technology sector. The implementation of the cloud-first strategy in 2019 also accelerated the uptake of innovative technologies such as AI for Industrial 4.0. The Cloud Computing Regulatory Framework, which was adopted by the Communications and Technology Information Commission, intends to improve cloud computing services in the country and promote regulatory openness. The country's ability to create data centers would be made easier by the need for racks as large amounts of data are processed and stored.
- Based on the government's digital transformation initiatives and advanced tech such as IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) across the enterprise, the Saudi Arabian ICT market is expected to grow steadily during the forecast period. Telecom operators are investing significant efforts in developing enterprise-centric or application-specific service portfolios to leverage investments in 5G networks, which is expected to increase telecom services revenues in the region.
- Around 97.6% of people are expected to be online by 2026 as governments seek additional funding for broadband networks. With spectrum above 1100 GHz now liberalized and available to carriers, mobile internet speeds have increased to 105.42 Mbps. Saudi Arabia currently ranks 6th internationally and 2nd among G20 countries, approximately 250% above the global average.
- Saudi Arabia aims to have state-of-the-art digital infrastructure and connectivity by 2030. NEOM, Red Sea, Qiddiya, Waad Alshamal, and SPARK are the smart cities that the country is currently building. Discussion topics include artificial intelligence, data centers, cloud computing, and industrialized IoT. Saudi Arabia also wants to build state-of-the-art infrastructure in its current five cities in order to be among the top 100 cities in the world.
Saudi Arabia Data Center Power Industry Overview
The Saudi Arabian data center power market is competitive and has gained a competitive edge in recent years. In terms of market share, a few major players, such as ABB Ltd, Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Inc., Eaton Corporation, and Cisco Systems Inc., are adopting strategies such as partnerships and acquisitions to enhance their product offerings and gain sustainable competitive advantage.- January 2024: Vertiv announced the plans to double its manufacturing capacity for busways, switchgear, and integrated modular solutions (IMS) by 2025. The expansion plans include increasing utilization and footprint in the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and others.
- December 2023: Eaton Corporation announced the launch of its new Rack PDU G4 (4th generation) that provides a high security and business continuity data center. It also combines with C39 outlets that securely connect both C14 and C20 power cords, backed by a locking mechanism and a built-in high retention system that secures the power cord.
Additional Benefits:
- The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
- 3 months of analyst support
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Table of Contents
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- ABB Ltd
- Caterpillar Inc.
- Cummins Inc.
- Eaton Corporation
- Legrand Group
- Rolls-Royce PLC
- Vertiv Group Corp.
- Schneider Electric SE
- Rittal GmbH & Co. KG
- Fujitsu Limited
- Cisco Systems Inc.
Methodology
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