Distributed Power Africa and its partner EDF of France are to install 12MW of renewable energy for Africa Data Centres, the continent’s largest provider of data facilities.
Through its South Africa unit, DPA Southern Africa, DPA reached an agreement with Africa Data Centres on a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement.
“Through this agreement, our customers will benefit from a sustainable data centre,” says Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres.
The power will be delivered to Africa Data Centres’ facilities partly from the solar farm DPA is developing near Bloemfontein to deliver the first 12MW required for the ADC data centres.
Demand for renewable energy is rising due to increasingly unreliable electricity supply across much of the region.
Data centres, which are central to the operations of telecoms companies, consume significant amounts of energy, with some estimates showing are responsible for as much as 2% of the world’s energy consumption, around the same as the aviation industry.
DPA has key operations in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Norman Moyo, CEO of DPA, said: “Our customers are looking for cost-effective and efficient ways of meeting their green targets and reduce energy costs for their businesses in a climate of increased power shortages. We are excited to embark on this milestone project with Africa Data Centres as it will demonstrate our innovation in deploying renewable energy solutions”.
Through the creation of a 50:50 Joint Venture between DPA and EDF in South Africa via DPA Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd EDF has been deploying hybrid energy solutions for clients across Africa.
Valérie Levkov, Senior VP Africa and Middle East at EDF commented: “This agreement with Africa Data Centres re-affirms EDF’s commitment to provide low carbon solutions for commercial and industrial client in Africa, and we are very pleased to be a part of this initiative.
