Teraco CT2 expands Cape Town Data Centre capacity now
By Kris van der Bijl
TERACO’S new CT2 data centre in Cape Town adds 32 MW of capacity across eight data halls, bringing the campus to 50 MW of supported IT load.
The expansion responds to familiar drivers of hyperscale cloud growth, enterprise demand and the rapid rise of AI workloads.
Yet in the Western Cape context, its cooling and energy design may attract as much attention as its scale.
Think of Cape Town’s 2018 “Day Zero” drought as a solid reference point for any infrastructure with significant resource demands when it comes to water in the region.
This makes data centres, which are often associated globally with high energy and water use, operate under particular scrutiny in water-stressed regions.
Cooling without consuming water
Teraco reports that CT2 uses a closed-loop chilled water system that recirculates fluid rather than relying on traditional evaporative cooling.
The system also incorporates free air cooling when ambient temperatures allow and adjusts cooling in real time according to IT load.
Liquid-based cooling, including liquid-to-liquid designs, can transfer heat more efficiently in high-density environments and reduce reliance on water-intensive methods.
Teraco says its facilities aim for a Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) of 0.05 L/kWh, which, if achieved, would represent a comparatively low water footprint.
“These new liquid cooling technologies recycle water through a closed loop. Once the system is filled during construction, it will continually circulate water … without requiring a fresh water supply,” said Steve Solomon, Vice President of Data Centre Infrastructure Engineering at Microsoft, who speaks publicly about water-efficient cooling approaches.
But Floris van der Walt, Senior Mechanical Engineer at WSP in Africa, says that liquid cooling systems involve risks such as potential leaks and require specialist skills for ongoing monitoring and maintenance.
A colleague, Leon Kleyn, at WSP in Africa, adds that fluid quality control and treatment pose additional technical considerations.
It seems prudent to track the Teraco facility over the course of its run-time to fully assess the value of this technology in the Cape region.
Efficiency under carbon constraints
The new facility is designed for a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.30, lower than the company’s previous average of 1.47. Reducing PUE can decrease electricity use for support systems and associated Scope 2 emissions.
Teraco’s CT2 is connected to a 120 MW solar PV wheeling programme that delivers renewable energy through the national grid.
Jan Hnizdo, Teraco CEO, has described this, and seemingly Teraco’s path, as “creating its own sustainable energy pathway”, aligned with a target of reaching a 100% clean energy profile by 2035.
This has regulatory implications in South Africa, where the Carbon Tax Act phases in higher statutory rates between 2026 and 2030.
EY sustainability tax partner Duane Newman has warned that businesses exposed to carbon‑intensive electricity will face significantly higher local carbon taxes as the scheme tightens, particularly given South Africa’s heavy reliance on coal‑fired power.
Implications for future data centre design
While CT2 demonstrates several design approaches intended to reduce water and energy use, independent assessments of performance over time are not yet available.
Technical metrics such as WUE and PUE will be key to understanding whether these designs can serve as a model for future data centre builds in water-scarce and energy-constrained regions.
More technical detail and on-record insights from operators and engineers would help clarify how these designs perform in practice, and whether they are likely to become standard across future builds.
