SINGAPORE: Tech giant Google is expanding its data centre footprint in the Republic, investing in a second “larger, multilevel” facility that will bump its long-term investment in Singapore to US$500 million (S$675 million).

Mr Joe Kava, Vice President of Data Centers at Google Asia Pacific, said in a blogpost on Tuesday (Jun 2) that the new facility will be built on the same principles as the current one - it will be one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly sites in Asia.

For instance, it would use 100 per cent recycled water for its critical operations, the executive said.

In terms of hiring, Google aims to “provide jobs for a small team of full-time staff, as well as a number of contractors, Mr Kava said. Some of the jobs advertised for Singapore include Data Center Facilities Technician or Engineer and Data Centre Facilities Manager, according to its website.

“We couldn’t be happier to be literally building on Southeast Asia’s extraordinary growth (again),” he said, adding that with the new addition, the IT giant’s long-term investment in data centres in Asia as a whole will be more than US$1 billion.

The company’s first site in Singapore was announced in 2011, and said it would cost US$120 million to build. It is situated on a 2.45-hectare piece of land in Jurong West.