Protests over a data centre complex in Johor state's southern tip — the epicentre of ‌the boom — were the first of their kind in the country. "Two years ago, it was just about ‌building capacity," said Cheam Tat Inn, managing director at the Malaysian arm of U.S. data centre operator Equinix. Japan's NTT said its data centre will employ a closed-circuit cooling system to limit water use. Bain Capital-backed Bridge Data Centres said solar energy accounts for more than half of the power supply at its operations in the state. "Data centres have high ⁠abstract support because we're all using more and more data and we all want high speed," said Chris Howard, an executive director at consultancy JLL.