To meet the growing demand in the South African data centre market, Digital Parks Africa (DPA) has started expanding its Johannesburg-based data centre campus.
This comes amid increasing adoption of cloud services, spurred by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning services.
According to a statement, the company is building an additional brick-and-mortar extension to its modular facility in Samrand, which will see an increase in capacity by 4.5MW.
DPA’s carrier-neutral data centre, having grown to 1 620m2 in modular capacity over six years, is now adding 810m2 of white space in a brick-and-mortar extension to support a further 570 racks, it says.
“The integration of modular and brick-and-mortar facilities within the DPA data centre offers customers the flexibility to choose between configurations to suit their diverse needs and preferences, within a single premises,” notes Jacques de Jager, COO of DPA.
The facility is designed and constructed by Master Power Technologies, a data centre developer and sister company of DPA.
Eckart Zollner, head of business development at DPA, comments: “We are showing that modular and fixed brick-and-mortar can co-exist and complement each other, reducing initial capital commitment and time to market.”
According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the South African data centre market is estimated at 434.86MW in 2024, and is expected to reach 828.93MW by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 13.77% during the forecast period.
It says the South African data centre market is moderately consolidated, with the top five companies occupying 48.86% of the market.
DPA says it is preparing to expand its capabilities to increase capacity, and provide improved efficiency and redundancy.
Zollner adds that since DPA’s launch in 2017, the company has witnessed significant growth, which informed its initial focus on modular structures. The modular facility now includes three levels, hosting multiple customers and equipment.
According to engineering firm Sterling and Wilson, brick-and-mortar data centres are often built using cast in-situ concrete construction. This method is widely used for data centre businesses across the globe, as it is proven and has evolved over the years.
Featuring three cooling modes, and medium and low voltage generators, DPA’s data centre includes a hyperscale data hall, white space areas and 38-rack segmented pods for added security and custom capabilities, states the company.
“DPA offers 3kw to 15kw power per rack density to accommodate various computing requirements. This is increasingly important for organisations harnessing big data analytics and AI,” says Warren Schooling, head of sales at DPA.
“As the industry increasingly focuses on analytics and AI, processors and servers get denser and more power-hungry, so by accommodating these power requirements, our design drives efficiencies for our customers.”
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