The WIOCC Group company can now boast of faster capacity deployment, higher‑density workloads and scalable growth without operational disruption.

Originally deployed by Vertiv as a prefabricated, modular, Tier III-compliant data centre for a pan-African telecommunications provider, the Parklands facility was designed to support phased expansion and evolving workload requirements.

By standardising on Vertiv infrastructure, OADC can accelerate deployments, support higher‑density customer workloads and expand data centre capacity without major redesign.

The facility uses integrated Vertiv power protection, thermal management, containment, and energy storage, designed to adapt to changing load profiles, improve energy efficiency, and support long-term scalability.

Today, Parklands supports hyperscaler and AI-driven organisations, where power density, thermal efficiency and deployment agility are critical. The IDC 8 data hall provides a modular, scalable infrastructure foundation designed to support evolving requirements while maintaining efficient operations.

The recently commissioned IDC 10 hall builds on this approach, extending the same modular architecture into a traditional build while maintaining performance, flexibility and product consistency for a broad mix of enterprise needs, helping customers scale confidently as demand grows.

Marc Matthews, engineering director and head of projects at OADC, says:

“OADC made an executive decision to standardise on Vertiv infrastructure solutions. The Vertiv brand essentially sells itself; we don’t have to convince our clients of Vertiv efficiencies, which builds confidence from the outset. Vertiv’s technology is tried and tested, with an excellent reputation. Beyond the equipment itself, the local Vertiv team has also played a critical role in supporting our strategy, reinforcing OADC’s decision to appoint Vertiv as one of our preferred vendors.”

Gary Chomse, regional director for Central and Southern Africa at Vertiv, adds:

“Parklands reflects a broader shift in data centre design across Africa to prioritise flexibility, scalability and efficiency. By combining prefabricated modular infrastructure with high-performance power and cooling technologies, Vertiv is helping OADC scale capacity while maintaining operational resilience and efficiency.”

The most recent collapse of Nigeria’s national power grid, which caused widespread electricity outages across the country, underscored once again the disruptive energy issues that local industries face on a regular basis. 

For sectors central to Nigeria’s economy, particularly oil and gas and the country’s growing mining segment, an inconsistent power supply can halt operations, compromise safety and limit output.

In fact, the World Bank estimates that Nigeria loses $29 billion a year due to its unstable power supply, emphasising the importance of dependable back-up power to help keep the wheels of industry turning.

At the same time, Nigeria has set an ambitious target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, even as oil and gas continues to play an important role in its economy, despite oil production’s percentage of GDP falling from 40 percent in 2000 to figures closer to the four to five percent mark in 2025.

In fact, the country has outlined its commitment to the use of natural gas as a cornerstone of its updated Energy Transition Plan (ETP), highlighting that gas is still a critical pillar of the country’s energy landscape, as a cleaner alternative to coal and diesel, and signalling the need to balance current economic realities with long-term sustainability commitments.

Mining is re-emerging as a promising area for growth, as Nigeria advances its economic diversification agenda.

In fact, with a revised sector growth and development roadmap for the Nigerian mining industry introduced in 2016, the government aims to increase the sector’s total contribution to Nigeria’s GDP to about 10 percent by 2026.

However, for these sectors to reach their full potential and, in fact, for the country’s broader long-term growth, structural constraints such as inadequate infrastructure and persistent power instability must be addressed, says ISS African Futures.

The combined outcome is clear: energy reliability across natural resource industries remains critically important in the present, even as Nigeria supports global efforts to move away from fossil fuels in the future.

This scenario strengthens the case for modern power technologies, such as battery energy storage systems (BESS), which can improve resilience while supporting cleaner energy pathways.

How Can BESS Play a Role in Unlocking Natural Resources?

As noted, oil and gas production, as well as mining, requires dependable and constant electricity to power critical operations, protect equipment and support the safety of workers.

Diesel generators, while common, are expensive to run and maintain – accounting for up to 40 percent of operational expenses for local mining operations, states the Nigerian Minerals Exchange – and furthermore contributing significantly to carbon emissions.

In contrast, a BESS solution stores electricity in rechargeable batteries, which is then released as needed for later use, providing reliable support during grid disruptions and enabling greater operational continuity.

Large banks of batteries can supplement power during peak operating periods or outages, something that is particularly useful for industrial operations in remote locations. A BESS solution supports vital safety systems, ventilation and other essential machinery.

Beyond reliability, BESS installations are designed to integrate easily with renewable energy generation, in the form of solar panels or wind turbines, enhancing the environmental credentials of industry operators.

For heavy industries seeking a pathway toward lower-carbon operations, energy storage offers a practical and economically sound bridge.

With deep expertise in power and critical infrastructure, Vertiv’s BESS solutions can help Nigeria to power through the next phase of its energy mix, with positive consequences for the country’s economy, as well as providing an element of goodwill to all those with a global interest in the ongoing shift away from fossil fuels towards a carbon neutral environment.

Vertiv EnergyCore Grid is a BESS system that supports power stability and energy flexibility to enhance reliable operation for demanding commercial and industrial applications.

Providing scalable energy storage building blocks, Vertiv EnergyCore Grid delivers from 4MW to +100MW of power output.

The solution is available with an optional integrated energy management system that provides intelligent controls, enabling ancillary services.

Organisations gain greater control over how traditional and renewable energy is captured, stored and used.

Nigeria’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector is experiencing robust expansion, fuelled by the financial services, oil and gas and fintech industries.

This brings with it new investment prospects for data centres, to service advances in cloud computing infrastructure and the rollout of 5G technology.

According to a 2023 research report, the size of the Nigerian data centre market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 20 percent (17.9 percent) during the period 2021-2027.

Critical aspects of Nigeria’s data centre ecosystem include the need to deploy next-generation data infrastructure for agility and sustainability, and the ability to scale up as required.

The strategic use of prefabricated modular data centres can help to address these challenges.

Adding data centre capacity 

The complexity of new technologies – including machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) – as well as the spreading of the network edge, is driving the need for enterprise data centres to add capacity.

There is a growing need to upgrade data centre facilities to support the required advanced computing and higher-density architectures, including an increased complexity in power and cooling needs.

As a result, many local organisations will need to plan to add capacity due to increasing growth and reliance on digital applications, and the realisation that in-house options aren’t sufficient.

The requirement is to be able to add capacity quickly and easily, without compromising on network security or the bottom line.

Prefabricated modular data centre offerings provide sophisticated, customisable and scalable solutions to modern capacity challenges, offering factory-built reliability, rapid deployment, flexibility and efficiency.

While prefabricated modular data centres are not new, the technology has been refined since its introduction around 15 years ago, and at the same time, the building practices involved have also been improved.

These sophisticated, fully integrated IT solutions can be configured to meet specific needs, as well as for quick deployment wherever computing is required.

Benefits of prefabricated modular data centres

In addition to being an easy-to-implement, affordable alternative to building traditional data centres, prefabricated modular data centres offer the following benefits:

Factory engineered reliability: Prefabricated solutions are engineered, assembled and tested in the factory, resulting in offerings that are rugged, reliable and repeatable. This reliability can pay dividends over the system’s lifespan, reducing the overall need for repairs and service calls.

Speed of deployment: Integrated modular solutions can be built while on-site activities continue. In addition, because they are fully integrated and virtually plug-and-play, these solutions can be commissioned and operational much faster than traditional data centres –  up to 30 percent more quickly, in fact.

Customisable: Modern modules are custom-built to customer specs, then the configuration and build can be repeated quickly and efficiently as demand increases. This simplifies operation and service.

Flexible: Integrated modular solutions can be built and configured to support various architectures, including high-density computing and liquid cooling. In addition, a modular solution is portable and can be relocated as network demands change, for example to better support a low-latency application.

Reduced waste: Because these are integrated, closed systems, they can be engineered to eliminate waste and be more sustainable than a traditional design.

Cost certainty and scalability: The total cost of ownership is typically lower for integrated modular solutions, which also allow an organisation to add capacity when and where it is required

Meeting market growth requirements 

As outlined, the data centre industry in Nigeria is predicted to see significant growth in the next few years, being projected to reach USD 646 million by 2030, after its 2023 valuation of USD 250 million – an anticipated doubling and more, in just over five years.

This growth comes on the back of the increasing demand for data storage and processing through the rise of the digital economy and the growth of internet usage in Nigeria[4].

In support of this growth, enterprise data centres looking to add compute, power or cooling in smaller increments can be enabled by these aims through modular solutions from Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions.

Vertiv remains committed to addressing critical data centre challenges across the continent, supporting the advancement of ICT enablement and digitalisation throughout the Central African region.

The organisation established its office in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2003, manned by highly trained local sales, service and project delivery teams. During this time, Vertiv has built a strong, loyal local customer base, gaining recognition for delivering reliable prefabricated solutions tailored to regional needs.