Pan-African operator Open Access Data Centres (OADC) has launched a 330kW pilot grid-tied solar project at its Durban facility in South Africa.

First reported by My Broadband, the African operator said its solar panel installation will offset the entire load of its Data Hall 1 at the OADC Durban facility.

OADC said: “The system ties directly into the A and B stream IT loads, directly offsetting energy usage at the rack level.”

The move is part of the operator’s wider renewable energy rollout plans, which will see the installation of solar systems for phases two and three of its Isando facility in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Isando facility is expected to launch in Q2 2025.

“We are also investigating other forms of renewable energy initiatives in a drive to reduce PUE ratios across all sites, including but not limited to chilled water and potential ice storage, gas power generation, and heat reuse for our Nigerian site,” said OADC.

In November 2021, WIOCC (West Indian Ocean Cable Company) announced it had raised $200 million to launch a new pan-African data center network known as Open Access Data Centres. OADC later said it planned to invest $500 million over the next five years.

OADC has data centers in operation and development in Lagos, Nigeria; Kinasha, DRC; and four in South Africa across Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town (x2). The company is also rolling out dozens of Edge sites across South Africa.

The company has said it plans facilities in up to 20 countries across Africa, including; Accra, Ghana; Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; and Mombasa & Nairobi, Kenya. It has previously announced plans for a site in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Earlier this year, South Africa’s government encouraged data center operators to reduce reliance on the national grid and begin “self-provisioning” energy.

Despite the major grid capacity issues in South Africa, PPA-type agreements for renewable power remain rare.

Digital Realty-owned Teraco is developing its own solar farm in the country, while Vodacom has signed an energy deal with local energy firm Eskom. Africa Data Centres is developing a solar farm in Bloemfontein with Distributed Power Africa.

Telecom operators such as MTN have invested significantly in batteries and generators to keep their base stations online during prolonged outages.