Akashi could solve Central Asia's compute capacity shortage

Central Asia — and Kazakhstan in particular — faces growing demand for modern data centers. Regional digitalization has become a state priority, and analysts size the market in hundreds of millions of dollars.

The market and the shortage

Arizton projects the Central Asian DC market will grow from $65M (2022) to $179.7M by 2028 — about 18.5% CAGR. IKS-Consulting recorded 3,775 racks in Kazakhstan’s commercial DCs at end-2024 (≈9% YoY), with colocation demand outpacing new supply. Uptime Institute adds: global AI workload growth is stressing grids, engineering talent, and labor markets.

Global players — Asian and Middle Eastern — are diversifying where they place compute. Kazakhstan is the natural site: geographically close, energy-stable, regulatorily open.

Project scope

Akashi Data Center is a Tier IV facility (Uptime Institute certification), scoped for 100 MW and 4,224 racks. It is designed to cover Kazakhstan’s domestic demand and the requirements of neighbouring markets simultaneously.

“A 500-rack facility can’t meet the needs of Kazakhstan, let alone international players. We’re building with headroom,” says Akashi CEO Vladislav Minkevich. “The question isn’t just where to store data — it’s how to deliver stable power, cooling, and availability under AI loads.”

The project has already drawn interest from Microsoft, Amazon, Google, China Mobile International, and Virtuozzo. Over 500 technology companies have submitted partnership inquiries.

Energy independence

Akashi’s differentiator is energy autonomy: alongside the DC, a 1 GW-capable gas-fired power plant is being built on-site. This means low energy cost per rack and resilience during peak loads.

Neighbours are also ramping: AzInTelecom in Azerbaijan is building state-cloud capacity with EIB backing; Uzbekistan has signed a 300 MW MoU with Linkwise. Akashi stands out as the region’s only Tier IV project.

We reply within one business day. Отвечаем в течение одного рабочего дня. Бір жұмыс күні ішінде жауап береміз.

Questions about colocation, partnership, or the project? Reach out however suits you. Вопросы по колокации, партнёрству или проекту? Напишите удобным способом. Колокация, серіктестік немесе жоба туралы сұрақтарыңыз бар ма? Бізге ыңғайлы жолмен жазыңыз.

Quarterly reports from the build site —
direct from the engineering team. Ежеквартальные отчёты со стройплощадки —
напрямую от инженерной команды. Құрылыс алаңынан тоқсан сайынғы есептер —
инженерлік командадан тікелей.

Commissioning milestones, capacity releases, and Tier IV certification progress. Short, substantive, zero marketing — one email per quarter. Вехи пусконаладки, релизы мощности и статус сертификации Tier IV. Коротко, по делу, без маркетинга — одно письмо в квартал. Іске қосу кезеңдері, қуат релиздері және Tier IV сертификаттау мәртебесі. Қысқа, нақты, маркетингсіз — тоқсанға бір хат.

01 Construction and commissioning milestones, with dated evidence. Вехи строительства и пусконаладки с датированными подтверждениями. Құрылыс пен іске қосу кезеңдері, нақты күндермен.

02 Capacity releases — racks and MW opening for reservation. Релизы мощности — стойки и МВт, доступные для брони. Қуат релиздері — брондауға ашық сөрелер мен МВт.

03 Uptime Institute audit status and certification timelines. Статус аудита Uptime Institute и сроки сертификации. Uptime Institute аудитінің мәртебесі және сертификаттау мерзімдері.