South African AI data centre plan raises power concerns

Plans for a proposed South African AI data centre have triggered fresh debate over electricity, water, and infrastructure capacity after reports suggested the facility could eventually draw as much as 400 MW of power. That would make it one of the largest digital infrastructure projects yet discussed in South Africa, but the figures remain contested as the municipality insists the project is still at an exploratory stage.

South African AI data centre plan still at memorandum stage

eThekwini Municipality has moved to clarify that it has approved only a memorandum of agreement framework with a prospective investor group described as the Korea South Power Consortium, rather than the project itself. In a municipal statement, the city said the agreement is intended to structure feasibility discussions and information-sharing, not to confirm final specifications, incentives, or infrastructure commitments.

That matters because some of the more dramatic public claims around the Durban AI data centre concern its potential electricity demand. Daily Maverick reported that the proposed facility in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, could consume the equivalent of roughly a quarter of the city’s present electricity supply. The municipality has since pushed back, saying that no final decisions have been taken on power requirements or supply arrangements, and that publicly circulating megawatt figures should not yet be treated as confirmed.

Power, cooling, and local infrastructure

Even with that caveat, the controversy points to a wider engineering problem. AI-oriented data centres are materially different from conventional colocation facilities because accelerator-heavy workloads raise power density, cooling demand, and grid dependency. The latest Africa Data Centres Association report notes that AI infrastructure is pushing operators towards more advanced cooling and stronger energy integration strategies across the continent.

That concern is hardly theoretical in South Africa, where power availability remains a structural constraint. As previously reported by eeNews Europe when power shortages held back data-centre expansion, access to reliable electricity is already shaping where and how new facilities can be built. Reuters also reported in 2024 that Africa Data Centres had begun adding dedicated solar generation for South African sites as operators tried to reduce pressure on the grid and improve resilience.

Why the South African AI data centre matters

If it proceeds, the project would underline the city of Durban’s strategic attraction as a coastal connectivity location linked to subsea cable routes, while also testing how far South African cities can support power-hungry AI infrastructure without worsening local utility stress. For now, the Durban AI data centre is better understood as a politically and technically significant proposal than as an approved build. The next real test will be whether feasibility work can turn headline-grabbing ambition into a credible plan for power, water, environmental compliance, and local economic benefit.