- Teraco has commenced construction on a new hyperscale data centre with 40 MW of critical power load at its Isando Campus in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg.
- The data centre is funded by a new R8 billion syndicated loan.
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. 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.
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).
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. Read more
Key facts JB7
- JB7 is expected to comprise a 71,000 sqm 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 sqm 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.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
