Hubco puts its data centre plan on hold, citing power and technology costs
The power producer says high electricity prices, heavy infrastructure needs and uncertain returns have delayed its data centre, and that it would rather start at around 100 MW.
Hubco, the listed power producer, has delayed the data centre it planned to build because electricity and technology cost too much and the returns are uncertain. The company held its annual general meeting on 20 October, and a research note from Topline Securities issued afterwards relayed what management said: high power and technology costs, large infrastructure requirements and uncertain financial returns.
Management told the meeting that the project would be more viable if data centres were built in dedicated zones with access to several grid connections. Hubco also said it prefers to enter the market at about 100 megawatts, rather than begin with the 5 to 10 megawatt facilities most newcomers build. No revised start date, investment figure or final project structure has been announced. Hubco's own filing on the meeting was not available, so the account of management's remarks rests on the Topline note.
Others are moving ahead
Hubco's pause comes as rivals commit capital. Sky47 opened its 8.5 megawatt Karakoram 01 data centre in Islamabad on 24 July, inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who said similar centres will be built in Karachi and Lahore. It is building a second facility of 5 megawatts at Port Qasim in Karachi, which was due for completion in September.
In June, Gul Ahmed Energy Group's Quantum Global Data Centre said it would invest an initial $230 million in what it calls Pakistan's largest Tier III data centre, with Huawei Pakistan as its partner and operations due to begin in 2027. The agreement also covers an associated science and technology park. The investment could rise to $600 million within three to four years. Its chairman, Danish Iqbal, put Pakistan's spending on AI related computing at an estimated $700 million to $800 million a year, remarks he made at the Q Summit. Indus Cloud, Indus DC REIT and United Bank Limited have also agreed to build local data centre and cloud infrastructure together.
The gap between Hubco and its rivals
Hubco has moved faster on its other new business, the electric vehicle plant it is building with BYD. At the same meeting management said the BYD vehicle plant should start operations by mid December, with initial sales of 1,000 to 1,500 vehicles a month, using imported components at first. For the data centre no such date exists, and the 100 megawatt scale Hubco prefers would dwarf both Sky47's Karakoram 01 at 8.5 megawatts and its 5 megawatt Port Qasim site.
