Kenya and the United Arab Emirates have signed a memorandum of understanding that will see the development of the first-ever data centre geothermal-powered data centre.
President William Ruto and UAE Ambassador to Kenya Salim Ibrahim Binahmed Mohamed Alnaqbi witnessed the signing of an MOU on Wednesday at State House, Nairobi.
The agreement between Kenya's EcoCloud and UAE's G42 will see the construction of a 1GW mega data centre, which is expected to propel Kenya's digital economy to greater heights.
"By harnessing geothermal energy, we are not only meeting the region's data needs but also setting a new standard for eco-friendly infrastructure," EcoCloud CEO Amos Siwoi said.
Geothermal power does not produce emissions during electricity production, similar to other forms of renewables.
EcoCloud is a leading provider of data centre solutions, while G42 is a global leader in creating visionary artificial intelligence.
"This geothermal-powered data centre is a milestone towards realising Kenya's potential as a global digital hub and fulfilling our mission of making intelligence accessible to everyone, everywhere," said Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G24.
Requirements for data centres have flourished across Africa. Data centres provide a cheaper and more efficient IT capability than inbuilt servers, which is aiding their popularity.
They also offer cloud services and allow organisations to focus on their core functions.
The EcoCloud-G42 project hopes to use Kenya's vast untapped geothermal potential by putting up an initial 100MW facility, which will be scaled up over the years.
At full capacity, the facility will reduce Kenya's dependency on fossil fuel, cut carbon emissions and contribute towards environmental conservation.
Kenya, currently the eighth largest geothermal power user, has more geothermal power capacity under construction than any other country and plans to nearly double overall geothermal power output by 2030.
Once current projects are completed, Kenya will rank fourth on the global list of geothermal users behind the United States, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Exploration for geothermal resources in Kenya started in the 1950s and gained momentum in the 1960s when two wells were drilled at Olkaria.
From 1967, the United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the Kenya Government and the then East African Power and Lighting Company Ltd., conducted geological and geophysical surveys in the area between Lake Bogoria and Olkaria.
The studies identified Olkaria as the most prospective area leading to the construction of the first geothermal power station between 1981 and 1984.
