Unlike the Zaragoza data centre, announced last month, which will be 100% solar powered, sunlight will supplement the electricity from the local grid that will powers the Johannesburg campus.
Justin Jenkins, chief operating officer for Vantage Data Centers’ EMEA business, said: “Not only will energy from this investment be used to power our Johannesburg campus, but it will also serve as another example of using solar-driven energy across the data centre industry. In the near term, solar energy faces increasing demand, driving prices higher across South Africa. This investment, however, will ensure a stable price for our customers.”
Vantage said that, at its completion, the Johannesburg data centre campus will have 80MW of IT capacity, of which up to 33% is expected to be supported by the solar farm (pictured), supplied by SolarAfrica.
Vantage’s investment will support the production of 87MWp of renewable energy and is forecast to reduce the emission of CO2 in the region by an additional 3.8 million tons over the lifetime of the agreement, said the data centre operator.
The campus, in Waterfall City, is situated on 12 hectares and will feature three facilities across 60,000 square metres once fully developed.
Charl Alheit, SolarAfrica director, said: “We are continually driven to assist our customers in reaching their green energy goals while saving them money in the process. The rollout of the 87MWp solar farm for Vantage’s campus, which will be one of the largest in South Africa, is an exciting step for us.”
