We continue to seek alternative energy solutions / opportunities in pursuit of our renewable energy ambitions by:
Maximise the combined rooftop solar footprint across our facilities to 4 MW in 2022 and 6 MW by 2023
50% of our energy consumption supplied from clean sources by 2027*
100% of our energy consumption supplied from clean sources by 2035*
*Includes Eskom/local utility supplied clean energy, energy generated from Teraco’s solar facilities and 3rd party renewable energy suppliers/wheeled arrangements/renewable energy certificate purchases.
We have entered into a development agreement with an experienced renewable energy developer and EPC to develop and build 2x100MW solar PV sites to generate and wheel power to Teraco’s facilities – when fully operational these 2x100MW solar plants are expected to produce more than 500,000 MWh per annum
Teraco continued to scale renewable energy consumption across our operations through direct investment in our on-site solar PV program:
*Based on 949.1 g/kWh, CDM figure for Southern African Power Pool
Teraco has set aside in excess of R3bn in capex over the next 5 years for Teraco’s utility-scale solar program. Implementation of this project will closely follow enabling regulations, policies and tariffs as well as grid connection/transmission capacity.
At Teraco our engineering team drive continued improvement in energy efficiency through:
to ensure our facilities are the most efficient and sustainable that they can be at the lowest total cost of ownership
82,241 MWh demand savings and 78,055 mtCO2e avoided as a result of energy saving initiatives and investments since 2017
1.55 Average Annual PUE in 2021, a 22.5 % decrease from a PUE of over 2.00 in 2017
ISO 50001 Energy Management – certification achieved across all facilities in June 2022.
New facilities peak and blended PUEs of 1.50x and 1.30x respectively based on our newest cooling designs
Pure focus on PUE improvement - Five years ago, Teraco’s rolling PUE exceeded 2.00 - through our energy efficiency initiatives we have been able to reduce our blended PUE by over 22%
New efficient designs and deployment of the latest cutting-edge technologies lead to significant PUE performance gains:
Centralized cooling plants – deployment of centralized cooling plants results in improved cooling density / capacity, efficiency economies of scale and system performance which in turn results in significant energy savings
Free Cooling – whenever the outside air is cooler than the required supply side temperature it can be used for cooling. We have deployed and operate a combination of indirect, direct (partial and 100%) and blended free cooling systems (up to 30 °C ambient) across our sites as befits the ambient conditions and cooling requirements of each specific site.
Introduction of distributed redundant designs – leads to a reduction in energy consumption as electrical equipment is operating at higher efficiencies
Roll out of Dynamic Cooling Management across all our facilities – to ensure that the right cooling is always available where it’s needed to deliver significant and immediate reductions in cooling energy requirements and carbon emissions
Our teams continue to engage in various initiatives to minimize and continuously improve our PUE performance through:
Changing cooling control parameters – our team continuously seek the most the efficient hot/cold aisle set points within SLA requirements and ASHRAE recommendations to optimise energy use across all facilities
Deployment of ultrasonic humidifiers – replacement of electrode humidifiers with ultrasonic humidifiers has significantly lowered the energy required to maintain humidity levels in line with SLAs
Rollout of LED lighting and motion detection sensors – replacement of incandescent/fluorescent lightbulbs with LEDs coupled with motion detection sensors has resulted in a >75% energy saving for our facilities
Heat extraction – extraction hoods have been placed directly over UPS systems to remove heat at source, lowering overall cooling requirements in energy centers
Energy recycling – we utilize the waste heat from our transformers to warm up our generator engine blocks thus reducing / eliminating power used by the engine block heaters
Rack blanking panels – racks are checked regularly with blanking panels placed in empty rack spaces to reduce the energy required to cool our data halls
Optimised placement of floor grills – careful management of the floor grill placement increases the temperature of the return air from the data halls improving the efficiency of our cooling plant
We strive to proactively reduce our use of resources by:
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System certification was achieved across all facilities in June 2022.
We continue to environmental awareness through our successful Teraco Environmental Awareness Campaign
Waste management pilot implemented at JB1 with 11,141 kgs recycled in 2021
Waste management programme rolled out to all Teraco facilities in progress, expected completion June 2022
Installation of water monitoring and measurement devices across all water systems underway, expected completion May 2022
Reducing waste generation through the prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse of waste produced during operations is a priority for Teraco – at our JB1 facility, we have piloted our waste management system, which includes:
Clearly marked bins for separate recycling streams for our clients and staff. These include colour-coded bins for general waste, plastic, glass, tins and cardboard waste
Implementation of end-of-life battery bins to ensure that batteries are not disposed of with general waste
Providing clearly labeled e-waste disposal locations, with disposal and destruction in line with ISO27001 data standards
We are also rolling out our waste management to all our other Teraco owned Facilities and aim to establish a waste generation baseline by the end of 2022
Through our ISO14001 implementation, we have been and will continue to educate our employees on minimizing and where possible eliminating waste. As we continue to implement our waste management programme as well as investigate and identify ways in which to reduce our waste volumes within our facilities, we are committed to providing a more detailed disclosure of our waste management data and targets for 2022.
We are committed to optimizing the use of water in our facilities through the reduction, recycling, and reuse in our operating activities:
Our closed-loop water cooling systems used across the majority of our facilities minimize water lost to cooling and greatly reduces environmental contamination risk
We have rainwater catchment systems installed across our Facilities to minimise municipal water use
Our proactive response to responsible water management at a minimum complies with local and national requirements
Through our ISO14001 implementation we have been and will continue to educate our employees on responsible water use and management
When thinking of sustainability, most companies’ minds will immediately jump into reducing their ecological footprint with renewable energy sources. It is however worth considering how co-location can help use fewer existing resources
Operating an internal data center often puts a company at a disadvantage when it comes to sustainability. It is unlikely that their building / office is specifically designed for the sustainable management of critical IT infrastructure from a power, cooling and water monitoring / efficiency focused perspective
By outsourcing data center activities, businesses can positively reduce their impact on the environment through more efficient allocation of resources (power, cooling and water) and pure focus on data center efficiencies while achieving better cloud connectivity with lower latency and much improved security. This will also help to minimize capital expenditure and overhead costs
Let us know what you would like to know more about and we’ll contact you right away.
Monday to Friday from 08h00 until 17h00.
+27 (0) 11 573 2800
Call +27 (0)11 573 2800 / email: support@teraco.co.za
