RACA Journal I January 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 27
DATA CENTRE FEATURE SERIES
250 – 300 AI companies by 2030, alongside training 5 000 AI experts 5. Yet beneath the boom lies a triple threat: construction costs that erode margins, worsening water security and an unstable power grid.
RAPID ROI: SOLUTIONS THAT ACCELERATE GROWTH Every week that a data centre build stalls, millions in potential revenue are lost 6. Larger hyperscale facilities designed for highdensity AI or cloud workloads may see even steeper impacts 7.
Airedale by Modine’ s CRAC and CRAH units, DeltaChill DCS Chillers, AireWall ONE Fan Array Units( FAU), custom AHUs and Hybrid AHUs are installed with speed and precision, enabling data centres to transition from build phase to operational readiness in a streamlined and timely manner.
Vodacom posed a unique challenge: expand rapidly and costeffectively without the delays of new builds or the constraints of retrofitting, while maximising energy savings and reducing its carbon footprint. Airedale by Modine delivered with SmartCool dual-circuit CRAC / CRAH units featuring three-stage free cooling, a remarkable feat in southern Africa’ s climate. The outcome? 110 % annual energy savings from air-cooled systems, 138 % with free cooling, reduced diesel reliance and accelerated ROI across more than 40 million subscribers 8.
From installation to impact: every step engineered for speed, savings and scale.
SUSTAINABLE COOLING WITHOUT COMPROMISE Cape Town’ s Day Zero wasn’ t an anomaly – it signalled a new normal. South Africa as a water scarce country faces mounting water security challenges. Traditional cooling guzzles water. Our solutions don’ t.
Airedale by Modine’ s zero-evaporative, air-dominant systems harness winter air to cool 80kW + AI racks, without draining a single aquifer. The 1MW hybrid CDUs run at 30 ° C secondary loops, entirely isolating IT from facility water. In South Africa’ s blistering summers, Airedale by Modine’ s cooling units defy heat, dust and power outages with zero-water dry mode, AI-driven adiabatic bursts and EC fans slashing PUE to < 1.2, with up to 40 % efficiency gains, enabling resilient uptime for hyperscale infrastructure 9.
No water waste. No thermal risk. Just precision cooling for a changing climate.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: GUARANTEED UPTIME IN TOUGH CONDITIONS Power cuts strike without warning – and wipe out revenue. Data Centre Solutions turns disruption into resilience. Airedale by Modine’ s Cooling AI keeps your infrastructure running and
Power cuts can strike without warning.
guarantees uptime. Real-time adaptation across CRAC, CRAH, Chillers, FAU and AHU systems enables swift transition to free cooling, delivering up to 40 % peak demand reduction 10. Airedale by Modine’ s IQity IoT syncs with solar wheeling, batteries and generators to achieve PUE < 1.2, significantly reduce diesel reliance and support zero-downtime resilience 11.
During South Africa’ s worst blackouts, Airedale by Modine’ s variable-speed and fixed-speed CRACs and CRAHs have kept Vodacom’ s 5G networks live.
REFERENCES:
1. South Africa Data Center Market Investment Analysis Report
2. Mastercard White Paper, " Harnessing the transformative power of AI in Africa "( 2025), https:// www. mastercard. com / news / media / ue4fmcc5 / mastercard-ai-in-africa-2025. pdf. Published August 2025.
3. Mastercard White Paper, " Harnessing the transformative power of AI in Africa "( 2025), https:// www. mastercard. com / news / media / ue4fmcc5 / mastercard-ai-in-africa-2025. pdf. Published August 2025.
4. https:// www. pnet. co. za / wp-content / uploads / 2025 / 09 / Pnet _ Job-Market- Trends _ August. pdf
5. https:// www. trade. gov / market-intelligence / south-africa-informationtechnology-country-launches-draft-national-ai-strategy.
6. Delays in data centre construction cost developers nearly USD15mn per month, finds STL Partners
7. The Hidden Costs of Poor Construction Quality Assurance in Data Center Projects – AuditCo
8. https:// www. airedale. com / wp-content / uploads / 2020 / 01 / Vodacom-Case- Study-2. pdf
9. Airedale by Modine™ Cooling AI™ Control System Brings Unprecedented Efficiency Gains to High-Density Data Centers
10. Modine Manufacturing Company- Airedale by Modine™ Cooling AI™ Control System Brings Unprecedented Efficiency Gains to High-Density Data Centers
11. IQity- Raise Your Data Center ' s IQ
Image by Freepik. com
Data centres
RACA Journal I January 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 27