- Data-centre service provider Teraco has started construction of its 120MW utility-scale solar PV power plant in the Free State province of South Africa.
- Teraco will own the 120MW solar PV plant and wheel the renewable energy to its data centres, with the plan to create its own sustainable energy source to power the next generation of client cloud and AI computing applications.
- The plant is expected to come online in late 2026.
Teraco successfully secured grid capacity allocation from Eskom for the solar plant in February and has spent the last eight months finalising plant design and the wheeling arrangements between Eskom and the municipalities of Ekurhuleni and Cape Town, within which several of Teraco’s data centres are located.
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 in urban areas. It also allows the deployment of renewable energy projects to areas with high energy yields to maximise their generation potential. Wheeling to multiple municipalities marks another first for renewable energy projects in South Africa.
Teraco has partnered with juwi and Subsolar to develop the 120MW solar PV plant, with juwi appointed to design and manage the procurement, construction, and commissioning.
Teraco will also be upgrading Eskom’s transmission infrastructure to allow the electricity generated to be successfully transmitted through the national grid. When fully operational, the 120MW solar PV plant is expected to produce more than 354,000 MWh annually.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
