Equinix faces challenge to Cape Town data centres over environmental concerns

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - A plan by U.S.-listed Equinix to build two data centres in Cape Town should not be approved without full disclosure of its water, power and environmental impact, a formal objection lodged with city planners and seen by Reuters showed. The Housing Assembly (HA), a social movement representing more than 20 communities in the Western Cape of South Africa, and UK non-profit Foxglove say the application cannot be approved without the key information needed for officials to assess the project. As technology firms race to scale up computing power across the globe, they face local opposition from communities worried about issues such as rising power bills, water stress, noise and pollution. "There is simply not enough information for a decision on a project of this scale, with no substantive detail on water use, emissions, electricity demand, diesel generators, air pollution, noise or even the buildings themselves," said Rosa Curling, co-executive director at Foxglove. The project includes two large data centres in Cape Town with a combined projected power usage of up to 160 megawatts, according to the document but questions remain on issues such as what sort of back-up power generation the site will have. The water demands of the site are also particularly important given Cape Town's historic problems with water scarcity, Curling said. Cape Town suffered from a severe drought in 2017-2018, which is also known as the 'Day Zero' crisis, when the city shut off most household taps because its water reservoirs had fallen dangerously low. "There seems to be this rush to develop data centres without people properly thinking through what the impact will be," added Saadiyah Kwada, an attorney at the non-profit, Legal Resources Centre in Cape Town. Equinix - which already operates a site in Johannesburg with 100% renewable energy coverage, according to its website - declined to comment on the objection lodged by the HA and Foxglove. King David Golf Club, the owner of King Air Industrial, the development site on which the data centres are due to be built, and Equinix have 30 days to offer a response, after which the City has 180 days to make a decision. KAI declined to comment. The City of Cape Town did not respond to requests for comment. South Africa's government on Wednesday pledged to boost investment in digital infrastructure, including data centres, through tax incentives and policy reforms aimed at expanding connectivity while addressing regulatory barriers. (Editing by Simon Jessop, Kirsten Donovan)