News
AECOM SOUTH AFRICA SEES
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN DATA CENTRE MARKET
Globally trusted infrastructure firm AECOM has been delivering data centre projects in Africa for the last decade and is seeing exponential growth locally . “ We have global agreements with Tier 1 players establishing their own hyperscale data centres in South Africa ,” says Africa MD Darrin Green . “ On the other end of the scale , small edge data centres are also increasingly being established closer to demand .”
Data centre projects are particularly suited to AECOM due to their multidisciplinary nature , from upfront environmental investigations and permitting to the costing and procuring of the land and all necessary approvals to get to the building stage , as well as the design .
When establishing themselves in a new region , cloud services providers typically house their servers in colocation data centres . As their customer numbers increase , these providers invest in their own data centre campuses .
“ The last few years have seen the focus shifting from established regions like Europe to newer locales such as South Africa ,” says Green . Elsewhere in Africa , with limited terrestrial fibre infrastructure , data centres are smaller and modular in nature and confined to fibre landing sites and larger cities .
Green notes that AECOM is working with various firms rolling out infrastructure across Africa , assisting them to navigate local permitting , logistics and power supply challenges . A shift to renewable power supply is high on the priority list . “ We help clients to move away from diesel generators to renewables with battery energy storage and green hydrogen .”
What continues to differentiate AECOM globally is that it is probably one of the few almost completely multidisciplinary built environment professional services companies . “ I do not think anyone else has the breadth of services and expertise that we have ,” says Green , adding that consulting companies tend to either focus on niche or general services .
AECOM , on the other hand , has capability in architecture , electrical , ICT , plumbing , structural and mechanical engineering , civils , cost management and control , quantity surveying , building fitout and control systems , geotechnical engineering and even environmental and sustainability advisory services .
“ We are truly a kind of one-stop shop , which I do not believe anyone else can lay claim to locally . Now some will say that does not necessarily help us always . It depends on the client ’ s
AECOM
approach . But we are strong in each of those disciplines ; it is not a ‘ Jack of all trades ’ approach ,” stresses Green .
In addition to being differentiated by the breadth of services it offers , AECOM has access to global expertise and best practice . “ Where we see a clear differentiator for us is in the digital engineering space . AECOM is at the forefront of that globally . Everything is going digital and has been for some time . It is how you turn it into a practical service that counts . We have done more than most and keep on pushing the envelope .”
““ Globally and generally , we are seeing a lot of data centres being rolled out .”
– Darrin Green , MD : Africa , AECOM .
This remains an international trend , with cost-conscious local clients reluctant to fork out money on innovation . However , AECOM still applies digital tools in its everyday design work , from 3D to even 5D modelling . “ There are a lot of add-ons that clients are not willing to pay for , but which can be beneficial to manage and execute projects ,” says Green .
Darrin Green , MD : Africa , AECOM .
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