Teraco, South Africa’s largest data centre operator, has announced it has begun work on a 30MW expansion to its already sprawling campus in Isando, on the airport road east of Johannesburg.

The new facility, called JB5, is scheduled for completion in 2024. It will use the “latest environmentally sustainable cooling and water management designs”, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The JB5 facility is Teraco’s eighth data centre development located in the City of Ekurhuleni’s “aerotropolis” – the area around OR Tambo International airport.

Read: Teraco completes big data centre expansion in east of Joburg

JB5 will take the critical power load capacity at Teraco facilities to 156MW, which includes the Isando campus, the Bredell campus further to the east, the Cape Town campus and Durban.

“JB5 will incorporate the latest state-of-the-art cooling designs: a closed-loop chilled water system that incorporates 100% free air cooling. This design will bring about industry-leading power usage effectiveness, thereby reducing the energy consumed and limiting water used in the ongoing cooling process to zero,” Teraco said.

According to the company, JB5:

Will have 55 000sq m of building structure serviced by 120MVA of utility power supply;
Is strategically located in the Isando campus alongside JB1 and JB3;
Will be built in a single phase and includes 12 thousand square metre halls; and
Is being built in line with global hyperscale data centre requirements.

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An artist’s impression of what JB5 will look like when completed

Explaining Teraco’s continued rapid expansion of data centre capacity, CEO Jan Hnizdo said South Africa has become a “springboard for cloud provision into Africa” and has become the “technology and data centre hub for sub-Saharan Africa”.

Read: Digital Realty seals blockbuster Teraco acquisition

“Massive global investments into undersea cables, like Equiano and 2Africa, further strengthen this position. This will enable global cloud providers to service not only the South African market but also the rest of the sub-Saharan African region.” — © 2022 NewsCentral Media