Time flies with great content! Renew in to keep enjoying all our premium content.
Prime
Greek firm Amaco partners with US energy giant for Sh194bn Mombasa data centre
Data centres are the main infrastructure powering AI by providing high computing power, specialised computer hardware, and the large storage needed to train and deploy complex language models.
Greek multinational Amaco Energy Group has partnered with US energy equipment and services company, GE Vernova, to provide gas turbines for its proposed $1.5 billion (Sh194.2 billion) artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in Mombasa.
The deal will see Amaco integrate GE Vernova gas turbines into the Greek firm’s power barge. A power barge is an unmotorised floating platform housing a power plant used to generate electricity for local or national grids.
Amaco plans to build the AI data centre, dubbed Hercules, to tap East Africa’s growing demand for computing infrastructure. The facility is expected to combine a large data-centre operation with an independent power-generation system.
“Amaco–Hercules has entered into a cooperation agreement with General Electric that will see it integrate GE Vernova gas turbines into the Hercules power barge facility, with the possibility of other GE Vernova technologies, including electrification and digital solutions, being integrated as the platform develops,” Amaco said in a statement.
Amaco has identified Dongo Kundu and Kilindini in Mombasa as potential locations for the data centre, citing proximity to the Mombasa port and capacity uptake by firms at the nearby Special Economic Zone.
GE Vernova is the world's largest manufacturer of large gas turbines, with more than 7,000 turbines representing over 800 gigawatts (GW) of capacity across more than 120 countries.
The current industrial development pipeline indicates about 75 megawatts (MW) of potential base-load demand, primarily from heavy industry, with another 75–100MW potentially coming from initial data-centre customers.
Amaco CEO Theodore Theodoropoulos has held talks with Kenyan government officials for approval of the project and met ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo last month.
The meeting came as Kenya begins licensing commercial data centres. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has put the centres under the telecommunications licensing regime, a shift from previous rules, which did not expressly recognise the facilities.
The regulator has also proposed a standalone licence for the centres, removing them from the permit category they are currently licensed under alongside telcos.
Amaco has not disclosed the facility’s construction timeline or final capacity. The planned facility is an independently powered centre that does not rely on Kenya’s electricity grid.
The company previously said the system has the potential to contribute significant additional power-generation capacity to support Kenya’s broader energy requirements.
Kenya has seen increased interest from multinationals seeking to set up data centre infrastructure, driven by rising demand for cloud computing, AI, digital finance, and other internet services.
Data centres are the main infrastructure powering AI by providing high computing power, specialised computer hardware, and the large storage needed to train and deploy complex language models.
This week, US firm Digital Realty, one of the world’s largest data centre companies, opened a second facility in Nairobi, increasing its existing campus’ capacity by 6.4 MW.
Currently, the construction of a Sh129.5 billion ($1 billion) Microsoft data centre in Nakuru County has been delayed after Kenya disagreed with the US tech giant over a request for guaranteed uptake of cloud capacity.
In May 2024, Microsoft partnered with UAE-based AI firm G42 to invest in the mega data centre as part of its efforts to expand cloud computing services in East Africa.
However, the facility’s upgrade to require 1,000 MW of power from the initial 60MW for regional use has spooked Kenya, which reckons it lacks electricity capacity to support the project.
Data centres consume immense power because they operate thousands of servers to process and store data. They also require large volumes of water for cooling systems that prevent overheating.
Large data centres often consume as much electricity as a small city.
Amaco has said the Mombasa project will use an offshore liquefied natural gas-powered electricity supply to power the data centre without straining local electrical grids.
The energy system processes natural gas and combines electricity generation and cooling systems into a single platform.
Other major companies that operate smaller-scale data centres in the country include EADC Liquid, iColo, Africa Data Centre, COMTEC, Access, Safaricom, MTN Business, and Telkom Kenya.
