Interconnection hub and vendor-neutral data centre provider Teraco Data Environments has broken ground on the construction of a new hyperscale data centre with 38 MW of critical power load in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg.

The facility, known as JB4, is expected to be the largest single site data centre, as a standalone building, comprising 50 000 m² of building structure serviced by 80 MW of utility power supply.

Scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2022, the centre will be built in two phases across 6 ha of land strategically located alongside the R21 business corridor, with multiple fibre paths to the Teraco Isando Campus connectivity hub, JB1 and JB3, which is 20 km away.

The Phase 1 build includes eight 1 000 m² halls with 19 MW of critical power load, increasing to 16 halls of 1 000 m², with 38 MW of critical power load, by completion.

“South Africa is strategically located at the tip of the African continent and, as a result, is positioned as a technology and data centre hub for sub-Saharan Africa,” said Teraco CEO Jan Hnizdo, noting that the company is poised for significant growth as hyperscale requirements continue to expand as a result of increased demand for cloud services in Africa.

The continued increase of cloud adoption in Africa is also being enabled by investments in critical infrastructure, including hyperscale data centre facilities such as JB4, which will enable global cloud clients to service the South African market, as well as the rest of the sub-Saharan African region.

Teraco continues to invest significantly into the region’s information and communication technology infrastructure and has built what is now Africa’s largest data centre platform.

Hnizdo said that this expansion is aimed at further supporting sub-Saharan enterprises with advancing their digital transformation strategies, as well as enabling global cloud providers to expand their footprints and spur innovation.

The JB4 facility is Teraco’s seventh data centre development and takes critical power load capacity at Teraco facilities to over 110 MW, which includes the Isando Campus JB1/JB3 (39 MW), Bredell JB2 (13 MW), Rondebosch Cape Town CT1 (3 MW), Brackenfell Cape Town CT2 (18 MW) and Durban (1 MW).