Teraco Shifts Towards Renewable Energy, Reducing Reliance on Eskom Coal Power

Digital Realty's Teraco, the largest data center operator in South Africa and leading carrier-neutral colocation provider in Africa, has announced a groundbreaking move towards sustainability. The company aims to transition all its power needs to renewable sources within the next ten years, a significant pivot away from the coal-powered electricity supplied by the national utility, Eskom.

Hosting the continent's largest Internet exchange, NAPAfrica, Teraco is critical for swift online content and service delivery in South Africa. With its seven sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, Teraco boasts a critical load capacity of 186MW. With another 90MW currently under development, this figure will soon climb to a notable 276MW, surpassing the output of a single unit at some of Eskom's older coal-fired power stations.

The ambitious roadmap Teraco has charted includes powering half of its colocation facilities with renewable energy by 2027 and reaching a full 100% by 2035. A diverse mix of energy solutions will drive this change, including Eskom or locally supplied clean energy, in-house solar generation, third-party renewable providers, wheeling practices, and the purchase of renewable energy certificates.

A monumental part of the energy solution is Teraco's 200MW utility-scale solar program, supported by a R3 billion capital expenditure investment for the next half-decade. February 2024 marks a milestone with the scheduled construction of a 120MW solar plant in the Free State, which will deliver power to Teraco's data centers nationwide. Once operational, it is expected to generate around 338,000MWh annually, contributing substantially to the company's power requirements and ranking as one of South Africa's largest solo solar facilities.

Plans also include an additional 80MW of solar capacity, although particulars are yet to be released. Complementing these larger projects, local rooftop solar panels have been installed at several Teraco data centers, generating 6MW, with an expansion to 10MW in sight.

Africa Data Centres and Amazon Web Services are also taking similar sustainable strides. With the National Policy on Cloud and Data from the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies prompting data center operators to have alternative energy sources, the shift from traditional diesel backups to greener resources is a move towards environmental responsibility and cost management, given the lower construction costs of solar compared to coal power.

Teraco's strategy aligns with efficient designs for their data center operations, incorporating advanced cooling plants and energy-saving humidifier technologies to ensure optimal power usage effectiveness.

Transitioning to renewable energy not only reflects Teraco's dedication to sustainability but is also an economic choice, promising reduced electricity expenses in the long term. As South Africa’s data centers account for a power demand of 652.29MW, innovations in energy sourcing can profoundly impact the overall carbon footprint of the digital service industry.