Data center specialist begins building 120 MW of solar in South Africa

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South African data center company Teraco has started working on a 120 MW utility-scale solar plant in Free State province. The project will power Teraco’s data centers. Once operational, it is expected to generate more than 354,000 MWh per year.

“We have partnered with Juwi and Subsolar to develop the 120MW solar PV plant, with Juwi appointed to design and manage the procurement, construction, and commissioning,” the company said in a statement. “We plan to create our 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.”

In February, Teraco secured a grid-capacity allocation from state-owned utility Eskom. Since then, the company has focused on finalizing the plant's design and establishing wheeling arrangements with Eskom and the municipalities of Ekurhuleni and Cape Town, where several of its data centers are located.

“Driving renewable energy infrastructure investment at a time when computing applications such as artificial intelligence are using increased power is an industry imperative,” said Teraco CEO Jan Hnizdo. “The need is even more acute in South Africa, given its electricity generation constraints and current levels of renewable energy penetration.”

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