SIGNS 20-YEAR POWER DEAL WITH SOLARAFRICA

Hyperscale campus provider, Vantage Data Centers, has announced its entry into a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with SolarAfrica, to power its Johannesburg (JNB1) data center campus in South Africa.

The 20-year PPA is expected to supplement the local grid that powers the new Vantage Johannesburg facility which is scheduled to open in July. As designed, JNB1 will deliver 80MW of IT capacity, of which up to 33% is expected to be supported by the SolarAfrica’s De Aar solar farm.

“Vantage’s investment in SolarAfrica’s De Aar project reaffirms our continued commitment to sustainability and our drive to reach net zero by 2030,” said Justin Jenkins, chief operating officer of EMEA and president of the U.K., Vantage Data Centers.

“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 center 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.”

As announced, Vantage’s investment will support the production of 87MWp of renewable energy and is forecasted to reduce the emission of CO2 in the region by an additional 3.8 million tons over the lifetime of the agreement.

“With climate change being the defining challenge of our time, it’s crucial that we accelerate our carbon mitigation efforts to transform our planet into a sustainable green economy,” said Charl Alheit, director of SolarAfrica.

“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 as we gear up to help even more businesses save with cheaper, cleaner energy through wheeling.”

Vantage commenced the construction of its Johannesburg data center campus in October 2021 through a US$1 billion investment.