- Africa Data Centres has announced it has broken ground on the construction of a solar farm in the Free State.
- The company, which is business of the Cassava Technologies group, is undertaking this project in collaboration with DPA Southern Africa.
- The solar farm is part of the company’s plan to be the most sustainable colocation provider on the continent.
Sustainability when it comes to data centres is a hot-button topic here in South Africa, especially given how much energy most locations require and the continued power crisis in the country. To address both of these elements, Africa Data Centres has announced that it has broken ground on a new solar farm project in the Free State.
The project, which Africa Data Centres is undertaking in collaboration with DPA Southern Africa, is part of a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) inked in March 2023 with the former and a joint company of the French utility, EDF.
Africa Data Centres, which is a business of the Cassava Technologies group, notes that the objective of the Free State solar farm is to furnish renewable energy to local data centre sites. This will commence with a carrier-neutral data centre in Cape Town, also known as the CPT1 facility.
“This initiative positions Africa Data Centres as a trailblaser in the data centre industry in responding to South Africa’s energy crisis through sustainable technology solutions. This is in line with a broader industry shift towards innovative, eco-friendly practices. The strategic use of solar power showcases technology’s role in pioneering solutions for energy challenges and environmental sustainability,” noted Cassava Technologies’ president and Group CEO, Hardy Pemhiwa.
“Today’s announcement represents a significant stride in our initiative to energise South African data centres sustainably, advancing our objective of achieving carbon neutrality. The first phase involves constructing the 12MW solar infrastructure to power our Cape Town data centre, with subsequent phases extending to our Johannesburg data centres,” added Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres.
This project, and others like it, will form part of the company’s ambitious plans to emerge as the most sustainable colocation provider on the continent.
“Beyond procuring renewable energy, our commitment to an efficiency strategy has earned us the internationally recognised ISO50001 certification for the effective operation of our data centres,” Durvasula continued.
“Our sustainability objectives encompass achieving net-zero status at all facilities, making this project another significant stride towards reaching that goal,” he concluded.
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