Africa Data Centres is expanding its Sameer facility in Nairobi to accommodate up to 15MW of IT load; the facility will be constructed using the company’s cutting-edge modular design.
Africa Data Centres, a division of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, is pleased to announce that it has secured a plot of land adjacent to its existing data center in Nairobi, Kenya, with plans to expand the facility to accommodate an additional 15MW of IT load. The construction will be completed in the first half of 2024, bringing five times the current capacity.
According to Hardy Pemhiwa, Group President & CEO of Cassava Technologies, “Colocation has become the foundation of African digital transformation and will be for the foreseeable future. Our investment into expanding our data centre operations in Kenya is in line with the increasing demand that we are experiencing due to the significant increase in the adoption of digital services in the East African region”.
The new data center will start with a 5MW IT load and be built using the company’s cutting-edge modular design. To ensure the highest possible quality, the entire facility, including all critical plant rooms, is prefabricated off-site. Local contractors will lay the foundations, assemble, and finish the construction.
In terms of cooling, Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres, says the company has a strict policy that has banned the use of adiabatic systems. “We do not use water in any of our cooling systems and are one of the few colocation providers who have taken this step. Although many believe water and adiabatic systems are more efficient than air cooling systems, this is not the case. With the newest technology, if free-cooling capacity is maximised, it becomes far more efficient and saves water which is becoming a scarce commodity”.
Furthermore, the expansion will enable Africa Data Centre clients to grow and scale in accordance with their needs. They can begin small, scale up to medium capacity, and even benefit from a hyperscale deployment in a few years if they so desire. “This is very reassuring for customers because it allows them to operate multiple deployments across Africa Data Centres sites with a single operations team and a campus and infrastructure they are familiar with,” Durvasula says.
Customers will also benefit from quick access to the cloud and managed services within the diverse ecosystem, as well as expanded external network options, courtesy of Africa Data Centres’ extensive connectivity partners. Furthermore, Africa Data Centres prioritizes sustainability in all of its initiatives. As a result, the company is constantly attempting to optimize the topology of its electrical infrastructure and selecting the best and most efficient solutions in order to reduce Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) and maximize energy efficiency.
Africa Data Centre is fortunate in Kenya because green energy accounts for nearly 70% of grid power. Because no company can achieve zero carbon emissions on its own, this helps the company meet its sustainability goals. This latest announcement is a step forward in the company’s 2021 expansion plans, which will see Africa Data Centres invest $500 million in the construction of hyperscale data centers across Africa. ADC’s Pan African expansion plans include breaking ground for the expansion, as Kenya is a critical market in Africa and a gateway to the entire East Africa region.
