It is 2022, and generative AI has officially arrived in the mainstream. While it looks very different from its early blockbuster portrayals, it is surprisingly far more useful than the bots we have become accustomed to. But it talks a lot without always offering much of substance. It makes mistakes. And while we may dabble here and there out of curiosity, it is more a novelty than an everyday thing.
In under four years AI has become massively smarter, and has found its way into just about every profession across just about every sector. What many of us do not see, however, is the vast physical infrastructure behind the scenes that powers every prompt and eats terawatts like toast. From the user perspective, AI feels seamless and instantaneous. In fact, every interaction relies on large data centres working around the clock to keep pace with demand, devouring huge amounts of energy. According to the African Energy Chamber, data centres are expected to consume more than 16 TWh of electricity annually by 2030 in South Africa alone; equivalent to around 6,5% of the country’s total electricity demand.
This growing demand presents several challenges. As AI evolves from an on-demand tool into an increasingly autonomous, always-on capability, both electricity consumption and cooling requirements are expected to rise substantially. Meeting this demand is becoming more expensive, with rising energy costs and tariff uncertainty complicating long-term planning. At the same time, electricity networks require significant investment to accommodate new load growth, while data centre operators face increasing scrutiny around sustainability and environmental impact.
Yet these challenges also present a significant opportunity for Africa. Unlike many developed economies attempting to decarbonise established energy systems, much of Africa’s future infrastructure is still being built. Combined with some of the world’s best solar and wind resources, this creates a unique opportunity not only to support the growth of AI, but to shape a more sustainable model for powering it.
The real question to ask is: “What should that energy solution actually look like?”
The road to 24/7 renewable power
For many organisations, the starting point is still the grid. While this may seem like the simplest option operationally, it also leaves businesses fully exposed to rising electricity costs, tariff volatility and an increasingly constrained network. As demand grows, so too does the risk associated with relying on a single source of supply.
Another option is combining onsite solar photovoltaic with grid electricity. While generating renewable energy where it is consumed can reduce electricity costs by around 24%, this is limited by physical footprint. Large data centres have continuous, high energy requirements, meaning the land required to generate a significant volume of solar power often far exceeds what is realistically available on-site.
Adding battery energy storage to an on-site solar installation allows excess solar energy generated during the day to be stored and discharged during peak tariff periods, improving renewable penetration and increasing potential savings to almost 30%. Even so, the solution is constrained by the physical footprint required for large-scale solar generation, while the batteries are primarily delivering cost optimisation through time-of-use arbitrage rather than long-duration energy security.
This is where wheeling begins to change the conversation. By generating renewable electricity where the country’s strongest solar resources exist and wheeling that power through the national grid, businesses no longer need to dedicate valuable operational land to large solar installations. Pairing off-site renewable energy with on-site battery storage allows organisations to maximise renewable penetration while using batteries strategically to reduce peak demand and optimise electricity costs. Based on SolarAfrica’s modelling, this combination offers the strongest balance between cost, scalability and sustainability, reducing electricity costs by around one third while providing most of the data centre’s consumption with renewable energy.
AI is evolving rapidly, becoming more capable and increasingly embedded in the economy. Anyone who has used AI will have realised that it does not replace human potential so much as augment it, enabling people and organisations to do more than was previously possible. The same principle applies to energy. As AI becomes more autonomous, the energy systems supporting it will need to become more innovative and flexible to enhance its abilities.
Find an energy partner capable of building a dynamic power solution that can evolve alongside your business. If AI has taught us anything, it is that the status quo can change, and fast.
For more information contact SolarAfrica,
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