Vantage Data Centres Waterfall Campus Launches in South Africa

Vantage Data Centres Waterfall Campus Launches in South Africa

Within its 80MW site in Johannesburg, South Africa, Vantage Data Centres has announced the construction of a Hyperscale data center.

A statement obtained by TechCabal claims that the two-story facility, known as JHB11, provides 16MW of vital IT capacity across 130,000 square feet (12,000 square meters). With no lost-time events across 1.5 million working hours, the project started in 2021 and was completed in 10 months, ten days ahead of schedule.

Vantage’s 30-acre (12-hectare) property, where the data center is located, will eventually feature 3 data centers with a combined total of more than 650,000 square feet (60,000 square meters) of space 80MW of IT capability, and a cost of $1 billion.

The campus, near Waterfall City, benefits from the region’s data center ecosystem and fiber access to the rest of Africa. Additionally, the campus provides renewable energy sources, reduces carbon emissions, and maintains energy-efficient operations with a power usage effectiveness that leads the industry (PUE).

Justin Jenkins, chief operating officer of EMEA at Vantage Data Centres, said that the project’s swift completion helps the business to more quickly meet the demand for Hyperscale data centers in the area during his remarks on the data center’s opening.

Data centres
Justin Jenkins

“At Vantage, we pride ourselves on not only our speed to market but also our commitment to become part of the local community and cement our reputation as a reliable data centre partner in the region. This project created hundreds of jobs that will continue into the next phase of construction, and we thank our teams for their dedication and commitment to deliver such a high-quality product for our customers,” said Jenkins.

The influx of Data Centres in South Africa

Regarding operational capacity, South Africa is home to the continent’s largest market for leased datacenters, and Johannesburg rules this industry. There are roughly 30 facilities spread throughout the city’s metropolitan region, offering a total of about 50,000 square meters (530,760 square feet) of raised floor space and 60MW of IT power.

Over the past two years, Cloud’s presence in South Africa has grown. Several leading data center providers have made significant investments in massive buildouts to meet projected demand increases as enterprise organizations migrate to the cloud and undergo digital transformation.

The South African data center market has recently seen significant financial infusions due to numerous major corporations declaring plans to construct new facilities. Several businesses, including Teraco and Africa Data Centres, have already invested billions of rands or intend to do so in the construction of new data centers in South Africa.

The size of the current developments also indicates that a higher influx of wholesale supply for South Africa’s data center sector appears likely in the coming years. Retail data centers primarily dominate the commercial market. However, those who are now building have obtained substantial acreage and power, which will appeal to customers wishing to purchase larger quantities of data center capacity. This will bring about a fundamental shift in South Africa, as the market will shift from “Adolescent” to “Mature” as more wholesale activity occurs.