Teraco, a Digital Realty company and provider of interconnection platforms and vendor-neutral colocation data centres, has announced construction has commenced on a new hyperscale data centre with 40MW of critical power load at its Isando Campus in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg.
The data centre, funded by a new R8 billion syndicated loan, will further solidify Teraco’s presence as a leading provider of data centre services in Africa.
The facility – JB7 – is scheduled for completion in 2026 and will incorporate the latest environmentally sustainable cooling and water management designs. The new data centre supports the growing demand by enterprises and cloud service providers for data centre capacity. JB7 will offer highly resilient and secure colocation facilities in line with Teraco’s long-term vision of enabling digital transformation across Africa.
The expansion will increase the Isando Campus’ capacity up to 110MW of critical power load.
Jan Hnizdo, CEO at Teraco, said enterprise and hyperscale deployments continue apace due to growing hybrid cloud deployments and the adoption of cloud services in Africa. “South Africa is a springboard for cloud provision into Africa and, as a result, has become the technology and data centre hub for sub-Saharan Africa,” Hnizdo said. “Massive global investments into undersea cables, like Equiano and 2Africa, further strengthen this position. This will enable global cloud providers to service not only the South African market but also the rest of the sub-Saharan African region.
“Teraco is focused on growing its capacity footprint across its core hubs. We ensure our clients have the flexibility to scale and take advantage of the Digital Transformation across sub-Saharan Africa,” added Hnizdo. “We continue to invest significantly in the region’s ICT infrastructure and have built Africa’s largest data centre platform. We take pride in enabling open access interconnection and providing world-class data centre infrastructure for all our clients.”
The JB7 facility, located in the heart of Ekurhuleni’s Aerotropolis, is Teraco’s ninth data centre development and further expands its Isando Campus. It is here that Teraco’s data centres provide enterprises with direct access to Platform Teraco, a rich ecosystem of over 250 network providers, content delivery networks, global cloud on-ramps, subsea cable systems, access to over 100 managed service providers and direct peering at regional IXP’s including NAPAfrica, Africa’s largest Internet Exchange Point.
Hnizdo said this expansion aims to further support sub-Saharan enterprises by advancing Digital Transformation strategies and enabling global cloud providers to expand their footprints, spurring innovation.
JB7 has been designed to put sustainability first and minimise its environmental footprint. It will incorporate the latest cooling designs with a closed-loop chilled water system and direct free-air cooling into the data halls. This design will bring about industry-leading PUEs and WUEs, reducing the energy consumed and limiting water used in the ongoing cooling process to zero.
The systems are specifically designed to provide liquid-to-air and liquid-to-liquid cooling to facilitate the deployment of high-density cloud and artificial intelligence deployments.
JB7 is the latest expansion for Teraco’s growing data centre platform. It increases critical power load capacity at Teraco facilities to 228MW, which includes the Isando Campus JB1/JB3/JB5/JB7 (110MW), Bredell Campus JB2/JB4 (63MW), Cape Town Campus CT1/CT2 (53MW) and Durban (2MW).
New R8 billion syndicated loan
Teraco has secured a new R8 billion syndicated loan through Absa and other financial institutions to finance JB7 and other construction projects as it expands its key interconnection hubs.
Part of this loan will augment existing loans used to finance Teraco’s renewable energy generation programme, which is aligned with its long-term Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives. This includes a 120MW utility-scale solar PV generation plant that will feed into the Eskom network and wheel power across multiple municipal grids.
“We continue to receive strong support from the lending community. The new syndication was well oversubscribed, which is an expression of confidence by our local institutional financing partners in our data centre platform, growth path and ESG initiatives,” said Samuel Erwin, Chief Financial Officer at Teraco.
“Teraco remains dedicated to protecting, connecting and growing the enterprises and ecosystems shaping Africa’s digital future sustainably and responsibly. Recent developments in Generative AI have spotlighted global energy supply constraints and triggered a new wave of investment into electricity generation,” Erwin added. “We have a unique opportunity in South Africa to integrate renewable energy generation into the provision of data centre infrastructure to serve the needs of our clients and support continued, sustainable digital advancement in our region.”
Key facts for JB7
- JB7 is expected to comprise a 71,000 square metre building structure serviced by 68MVA of utility power supply, which is expected to provide 40MW of critical power
- It is strategically located in the Isando Campus alongside JB1, JB3 and JB5
- The Isando Campus is Africa’s most highly interconnected data centre location with over 16,500 interconnects
- JB7 will be built in a single phase and is expected to include eight 1,500 square metre data halls
- JB7 is anticipated to significantly add to South and sub-Saharan Africa’s data centre footprint
- The new data centre development is being built in line with global hyperscale requirements
- It will augment the existing portfolio of ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 50001, ISO 14001, PCI-DSS and ISAE 3402-certified data centre facilities
- JB7 plans to feature environmentally conscious designs and monitoring technology to reduce water use and improve energy efficiency
- JB7 plans to provide liquid-to-air and liquid-to-liquid cooling for high-density cloud and AI deployments
