Google is looking to expand its data center in Taiwan (report)

Google intends to plunk down many millions of dollars to expand its data center presence in Taiwan, according to a local media report today.

Crediting the Economic Daily News, a Central News Agency article reported that plans to spend $100 million to $200 million in a third phase of development for its data center in Changhua County, Taiwan.

A Google spokesman told VentureBeat that the company wouldn’t comment on rumors and speculation. But if it’s correct, further expansion in Taiwan would be a logical step for the tech giant.

Year after year, Google has been investing in hardware to support the global usage of its own applications and those of other companies, which can pay for by-the-minute usage of Google’s public cloud.

Google announced plans last month to spend $773 million on a data center in the Netherlands. And earlier in the year Google received approval to expand its existing data center footprint in Ireland.

Meanwhile, Google’s toughest competitors in the public cloud, namely Amazon and Microsoft, have also been buying more data center infrastructure as demand continues to grow.

In 2011, Google announced that it was building one of its first data centers in Asia in Changhua. The facility opened last year. Less than a year later, it’s gotten the green light for growth.

Google has been quick to expand its existing data centers, both in the U.S. and abroad. But this year Google has clearly articulated plans to make the public cloud a major portion of its overall business. Which is why it’s reasonable to expect growth initiatives at existing sites and new data center construction coming at a faster rate than in previous years.