Bitdeer Technologies Group projects US$1.7B from Malaysia AI offtake

More than US$1.7 billion in expected five-year AI cloud revenue now depends on customers taking capacity at a Johor, Malaysia, site before its power comes online. Bitdeer Technologies Group NASDAQBTDR, the Singapore-based bitcoin miner and AI cloud operator, said in its Sept. 29 release that customer offtake covers more than 70 per cent of its planned 21.7-megawatt A201 site. Bitdeer targets energization in the first quarter of 2027.

Bitdeer shares were US$11.51 at the 4 p.m. EDT Nasdaq close on Sept. 25, according to its NASDAQBTDR. That reading predates the Sept. 29 announcement, so it does not show a share reaction to the new offtake.

A201's data centre lease was already signed in July, whereas the customer offtake is the new disclosure. Bitdeer says it has contracted the expected revenue but gives no customer names, executed offtake agreements, deposits or payment schedule in the Sept. 29 release.

The company now estimates about US$2.9 billion in total expected AI cloud revenue backlog. It still targets A201 energization in the first quarter of 2027, making power delivery the first disclosed physical test of a five-year revenue projection that has yet to be earned.

Site Lease Came Before Customer Offtake

Bitdeer's July 21 operations update identified a signed 10-year lease for 21.7 megawatts of Malaysian IT capacity, with handover expected in the first quarter of 2027. A signed site lease secures space for Bitdeer; the Sept. 29 announcement separately describes customers committing to use more than 70 per cent of that capacity. The release does not state whether the offtake agreements require minimum payments if service begins late.

Bitdeer's August operations update listed A201 as ready for service in January 2027; the Sept. 29 release gives a first-quarter energization target, a different milestone. It reported 133 racks of GB300 systems procured for A201, while the latest release describes more than 100 racks without identifying a new order. The procurement is subject to customary termination rights, and neither release gives its purchase price. The August report also put Bitdeer's live AI cloud annualized revenue run rate at about US$86 million as of Aug. 31, based on contractually obligated GPU orders active that day.

Bitdeer chief financial officer Michael G. Potter described the design in the Sept. 29 release:

"Designing A201 to support both current-generation GB300 and next-generation Vera Rubin deployments allows us to serve customers across multiple platform generations from a single site, while maintaining the capital discipline that underpins our AI Cloud strategy," Potter said.

The August report also recorded 1,310 bitcoins mined, and Mugglehead's Sept. 26 account of Bitdeer's bitcoin sales followed that side of the company as it expanded cloud capacity.

Read more: Bitdeer Technologies Group sells 288.4 BTC, has zero pure holdings

Backlog Counts Expected Future Service

The US$1.7 billion A201 projection is part of Bitdeer's roughly US$2.9 billion total expected backlog, according to the Sept. 29 release. Neither figure describes revenue already recognized; the release does not disclose cash received. Bitdeer separately described an active AI cloud capacity pipeline exceeding US$10 billion, which it did not say was covered by customer commitments.

The company's earlier A102 project offers a nearer delivery marker. Bitdeer's August update said all 9.5 megawatts of A102 GPU capacity had been contracted, with more than US$800 million in expected revenue. It targeted readiness for service in November 2026 and expected revenue recognition to begin in the first quarter of 2027, showing that customer contracting and reported sales occur at different stages.

A201 and the adjacent A202 project are also at different stages. Bitdeer's Sept. 14 A202 release said it entered into a 10-year data centre services agreement for the Johor expansion. The agreement secures 65.1 megawatts, with energization expected in the third quarter of 2027. The two Johor facilities would provide 86.8 megawatts of capacity; the Sept. 29 A201 release gives no customer offtake figure for A202.

The same A202 release described 206.5 megawatts across Bitdeer's AI cloud sites as secured capacity, meaning owned sites or sites under executed data centre services agreements. That measure does not mean customers have contracted every megawatt. Bitdeer's larger target remains up to 350 megawatts delivered by the first quarter of 2028, subject to site development and funding.

Johor Power Date Tests the Forecast

Bitdeer says it expects to finance expansion mainly with customer prepayments, operating cash flow and financing against contracted cash flows. It does not disclose an A201 prepayment amount, hardware bill or project financing agreement in the Sept. 29 release, leaving the construction funding mix unquantified.

Cipher Digital Inc. NASDAQCIFR, the US developer and operator of industrial data centres, said in its Sept. 25 release that a customer made a binding commitment to enter a later Barber Lake lease. Cipher expects its first rent only when the initial data halls are delivered, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026. Mugglehead's earlier Barber Lake report traced the same gap between contracted value and rent.

Read more: Cipher Digital reports AI lab commitment to enter later Barber Lake lease

Johor has a local constraint beyond customer demand. Chris Howard, an executive director at property consultancy JLL, told Reuters in July that local acceptance of data centres could lag broad support because residents worry about energy prices and water use. He was speaking about the region, not Bitdeer's A201 site; the concern makes the first-quarter 2027 power target a test of the company's schedule.

Bitdeer's next stated A201 milestone is energization in the first quarter of 2027. The company has not given a customer service-start date in the Sept. 29 release, so delivered power and the first reported A201 cloud revenue will be the checks on its five-year US$1.7 billion forecast.