Africa Data Centres, a business of Cassava Technologies Group, has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with DPA Southern Africa Pty Ltd (DPA SA), a joint company of Distributed Power Africa and the French utility company, EDF. DPA SA will supply 12MW of renewable solar energy for Africa Data Centres facilities in South Africa.
Energy will be delivered to Africa Data Centres' facilities partly from the solar farm DPA is developing near Bloemfontein to deliver the first 12MW required for the ADC data centers.
Research has shown that the global data center market was valued at $187.35 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $517.17 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 10.5% from 2021 to 2030. In addition, most estimates claim data centers are responsible for as much as 2% of the world's energy consumption, which is approximately the same as the aviation industry.
While it cannot be denied that tremendous strides have been made towards carbon neutrality, the designing, developing and operating of sustainable facilities is still one of the greatest challenges faced by developers, co-location operators, global cloud computing providers and hyperscalers.
The data center giant, as the largest pan-African network of interconnected data center facilities, is at the vanguard of sustainable change and has always been committed to helping South African companies reduce their reliance on the already strained power supply.
Through the creation of a 50:50 Joint Venture between DPA and EDF in South Africa via DPA Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, EDF intends to develop hybrid energy solutions for clients across Africa.
By working together, the two companies are also supporting several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all and to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This partnership also creates sustainable consumption and production patterns and, most significantly, takes urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
