Teraco signs wind power purchase agreement to power data centre facilities sustainably

Jan Hnizdo, CEO at Teraco.

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Teraco, a digital realty company and provider of interconnection platforms and vendor-neutral colocation data centres, today announced it has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with South African-based integrated energy aggregator NOA to supply wind-powered renewable energy to Teraco’s data centres.

Teraco, which announced late last year that it had commenced construction on its own 120MW solar PV plant in the Free State, has signed this PPA to complement its renewable energy programme with wind power. The agreement provides Teraco and NOA with the flexibility to grow renewable energy off-take as both companies evolve to meet increasing demand.

Wind is a key renewable energy resource for data centres that operate 24/7/365. In South Africa, wind generates power through the night and into the early morning, making it an excellent complementary source of power to solar, which is generated during daylight hours. The combination enables far greater levels of renewable energy coverage.

Bryce Allan, Head of Sustainability at Teraco, says: “The conclusion of this PPA supports our sustainable growth pathway. We appreciate NOA’s unique and collaborative approach in complementing Teraco’s renewable energy supply and look forward to a long partnership as we journey towards our 100% renewable energy goal.”

Karel Cornelissen, CEO at NOA, says: “NOA is proud to deliver our suite of renewable energy products to support Africa’s largest data centre operator’s ambitious renewable energy goals. Teraco is an industry leader and continues to set the bar high for renewable energy initiatives across South Africa’s data centre industry. By aggregating renewable energy from our fleet of generation facilities and third-party IPPs, we are well positioned to provide tailored and flexible solutions to help companies like Teraco reduce their carbon footprint.”

Under the terms of the deal, NOA will wheel renewable energy from various wind projects to Teraco’s facilities. The renewable energy wheeled to Teraco’s facilities will complement Teraco’s solar programme, maximising renewable energy across Teraco’s data centres. These projects will ramp up progressively over time, with the first power anticipated to be wheeled in 2026.

Wheeling renewable energy across electrical grids enables power to be moved from a renewable energy producer in outlying areas via existing transmission and distribution systems to end-users located in urban areas. It also enables the deployment of renewable energy projects to areas with high energy yield to maximise renewable energy generation potential.

“This is an exciting time for Teraco as we take another significant step towards meeting our 100% renewable energy ambitions and those of our clients,” says Jan Hnizdo, CEO at Teraco. “We’re looking forward to these new wind generation facilities coming online and adding much needed new renewable energy production to South Africa’s grid.”