Schneider Electric continues its sustainability goals

Schneider Electric VP for Secure Power for Anglophone Africa Ben Selier believes that with the demand for energy going up, old data center cooling systems are no longer sustainable.

Selier shared these sentiments with Connecting Africa on the sidelines of Africa Tech Festival 2024.

Schneider Electric plays a significant role in the data center industry by providing solutions that enhance efficiency, sustainability, and reliability. 

"We can't keep trying to cool data centers with air. That has led us to acquiring a liquid cooling company, but everything needs to go through all the different regulations before we announce [the deal]," he added.

He said that the company has done a lot of work in ensuring that its data centers continue to be green.

"When we say we are one of the most sustainable companies, we need to look upstream as well as downstream," he explained.

Selier added that ensuring effective cooling is easier in more developed countries than developing countries, especially with unreliable power supply.

"[With] the power supply issues in South Africa and West Africa, we tend to run generators or coal, which makes it very difficult to bring the data center footprint down," Selier explained.

His sentiments on data center sustainability echo what his colleague Mourad Younes told Connecting Africa last year.

Related:Schneider Electric: Sustainability key for data center operators

Younes said at the time that sustainability in the data center environment will prove a significant consideration in the future.

African data center boom

Africa has seen a boom in new data centers in recent times.

In October 2024, digital infrastructure company Equinix launched the first phase of its 20-megawatt data center, called JN1, in Germiston, South Africa.

Schneider Electric VP Ben Selier believes that as demand for energy increases, old data center cooling systems are no longer sustainable. (Source: Schneider Electric)

In June 2024, pan-African PAIX Data Centres also announced the expansion of its facility in Accra to 1.2 MW, which it said will be a critical boost to the digital economy that will support connectivity and economic growth in the country.

In February 2024 Equinix also announced that it would invest US$390 million in Africa over the next five years to build data centers.

The $390 million investment came almost two years after the company entered Africa by acquiring West African data center and connectivity solutions provider MainOne for US$320 million. The MainOne deal, announced in December 2021, aimed to expand Platform Equinix into West Africa, providing organizations both within and outside Africa with access to global and regional markets.