Cape Town civil groups sue to block two Equinix data centers

Civil rights groups in South Africa filed a legal challenge in August against two proposed Equinix data centers in Cape Town, and they are asking for a national moratorium on new facilities. Rest of World reports that the two 174-megawatt sites would consume approximately 4.4 billion liters of water annually, equivalent to the yearly usage of 18,000 homes, in a city that nearly depleted its water supply in 2018.

"What we are saying is there should be a moratorium on data centers," said Kashiefa Achmat, chairperson of the Cape Town-based advocacy group Housing Assembly, which is leading the challenge with U.K.-based nonprofit Foxglove. "It must be across South Africa."

The target is Equinix, a California-based operator whose market value has surged over 30% to $99.36 billion since December. Housing Assembly and Foxglove want new regulations forcing operators to disclose water and electricity consumption and provide community benefits.

The pressure arrives in the middle of a build-out. Microsoft has committed 5.4 billion rand ($300 million) through 2027 for South African infrastructure expansion, and Amazon Web Services plans a $1.5 billion investment across Africa through 2029. Africa currently operates only 409 megawatts of data center capacity, under 1% of global capacity, despite holding 20% of the world's population.