Teraco, a Digital Realty company, and Africa’s largest interconnection hub and vendor-neutral data centre provider, has announced it has secured its first grid capacity allocation from Eskom and will commence construction of a 120MW utility-scale solar PV energy facility in the Free State province of South Africa.
The grid capacity allocation from Eskom enables Teraco to connect its planned 120MW solar facility to the national electrical grid. The power generated will be wheeled across Eskom and municipal power networks to Teraco’s facilities across South Africa.
When fully operational, the 120MW solar PV plant is expected to produce more than 338,000MWh annually.
Teraco has partnered with JUWI Renewable Energies South Africa and Subsolar to develop the 120MW solar PV plant, with JUWI appointed to design and manage the procurement, construction and commissioning. In a first for Teraco, a green loan has been raised to finance the building of the plant. Choosing the right partners has been crucial to delivering on Teraco’s renewable energy strategy and vision.
Wheeling renewable energy across electrical grids enables power to be moved from a renewable energy producer in outlying areas via existing transmission and distribution systems to end-users located in urban areas. It also enables the deployment of renewable energy projects to areas with high energy yield to maximise renewable energy generation potential.
