Data centre and information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure company Teraco has started building a new 40 MW hyperscale data centre at its Isando Campus in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.

The facility, known as JB7, is currently 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 and is funded by a new R8-billion syndicated loan.

Enterprise and hyperscale deployments continue apace owing to growing hybrid cloud deployments and the adoption of cloud services in Africa, says Teraco CEO Jan Hnizdo.

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 110 MW of critical power load and increase critical power load capacity at Teraco facilities to 228 MW.

“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.

“We continue to invest significantly in the region’s ICT infrastructure and have built Africa’s largest data centre platform,” he says.

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.

“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,” he notes.

JB7 is Teraco’s ninth data centre development.

This expansion aims to further support sub-Saharan enterprises by advancing their digital transformation strategies and enabling global cloud providers to expand their footprints, spurring innovation, Hnizdo says.

JB7 has been designed to be as sustainable as possible and minimise its environmental footprint. It will incorporate state-of-the-art 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 power use and water use efficiency, by 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 AI deployments, he highlights.

JB7 is expected to comprise a 71 000 m² building structure serviced by 68 MVA of utility power supply, which is expected to provide 40 MW of critical power. The new facility will be built in a single phase and is expected to include eight, 1 500 m² data halls.

The Isando Campus is a highly interconnected data centre location with more than 16 500 interconnects.

The new facility is anticipated to significantly add to South and sub-Saharan Africa’s data centre footprint and is being built in line with global hyperscale requirements.

Meanwhile, Teraco secured the 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 new 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 objectives.

This includes a 120 MW utility-scale solar PV generation plant that will feed into the Eskom network and wheel power across multiple municipal grids.

“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,” says Teraco CFO Samuel Erwin.