In a strategic move to counter the continent’s persistent energy challenges and meet the massive infrastructure demands of artificial intelligence, Open Access Data Centres has hinted it is exploring gas-based power generation as an alternative to diesel for its operations in Nigeria.
Marc Matthews, OADC’s engineering director and head of projects, disclosed this during a joint event hosted alongside Vertiv, a global leader in critical digital infrastructure solutions.
The shift toward natural gas highlights a growing industry focus on finding cleaner, more reliable, and scalable power solutions to fuel the 21st-century AI boom.
Powering the AI Explosion in Africa
The demand for robust power alternatives comes as generative and agentic AI shift from corporate novelty to core infrastructure.
According to Dion Chang, trend analyst and founder of Flux Trends, data centres will define the 21st century just as skyscrapers did the 20th. However, powering these facilities remains a steep hurdle.
Wojtek Piorko, managing director for Africa at Vertiv, explained that the rise of graphics processing units (GPUs), which act like multi-lane highways capable of processing thousands of calculations simultaneously, has fundamentally altered data centre design. Rack densities are skyrocketing from standard 30 to 40 kW capacities to potentially hundreds of kilowatts per rack.
“AI data centres require hundreds of megawatts of additional capacity,” Piorko noted. “Across Africa, power generation has roughly doubled over the past decade, but is that enough? Probably not. The challenge currently lies with power distribution.”
The Nigeria Strategy: Gas, Scale, and Modularity
To navigate these constraints, OADC is rethinking its operational footprint in West Africa. Transitioning to gas-based power in Nigeria allows the company to move away from costly, high-emission diesel generators while maintaining the stable uptime required for high-density computing.
Beyond energy sourcing, OADC is tackling the power challenge through built-in flexibility and modular design at its flagship Lagos facility.
Phased Scaling: While originally planned as a 24 MW facility, OADC opted to deploy an initial 6 MW phase, allowing the site to scale up to 24 MW organically as demand dictates.
Prefabricated Efficiency: In collaboration with Vertiv, the facility utilizes modular, pre-tested infrastructure components.
This includes technologies like the Vertiv SmartRun, an all-in-one overhead platform that integrates high-density power distribution and closed-loop liquid cooling, minimizing both on-site construction waste and water consumption.
The Broader African Context: Connectivity and Edge Computing
While Nigeria serves as a proving ground for gas-powered alternatives, OADC is implementing localized infrastructure strategies across the continent.
In South Africa, the company utilizes solar panels to offset daylight energy usage in its data halls and anchors its facilities near subsea cable landing points to ensure high-speed global connectivity.
Ultimately, the pivot to regional solutions like gas in Nigeria and edge computing across major hubs is aimed at reducing latency for African users. As Matthews emphasized, “AI inference needs to happen closer to the user.”
By combining gas-based power generation with scalable, modular architecture, OADC and Vertiv are establishing a resilient blueprint for Africa’s digital future, ensuring the continent is not left behind in the global AI race.
