Delivering reliable standby power for a breakthrough data center in Kenya

Supply: 

• 4 x C3000D5 2100 kW diesel generator sets 
• 52,000 ltr bulk fuel tank
• 4 x DMC8000 control systems
• Supply, installation, commissioning and warranty cover

Maximizing uptime

Located in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, the iXAfrica NBO01 facility is East Africa’s first hyperscale data center: offering a secure, AI-ready cloud, colocation, and connectivity hub to growing numbers of regional businesses demanding high-capacity, hypercloud-enabled data storage.

In a city where grid power outages are common, iXAfrica recognized the need for failsafe backup power to keep its data facilities operating without disruption. It determined it would ultimately need a final 50.4 MW standby power plant comprising 24 generator sets supported by ancillary equipment including a bulk fuel tank, fire extinguisher system and digital controls.

Seeking a reliable partner for Phase 1 of the project—the building of the first 8.4 MW standby power set-up—the company chose Car & General (C&G), the established, Nairobi-based Cummins distributor who was tasked to work in tandem with Cummins Middle East, based in Dubai. C&G had supported iXAfrica since 2017 with the overall standby power design and technical support—a factor which, along with Cummins’ excellent reputation, helped seal the contract.

“The NBO01 center supports data for many companies across East Africa, so keeping its facilities functioning is imperative. Having previously worked with iXAfrica, we understood the specific environmental and technical challenges involved in creating a standby power solution they could trust. We’re proud to have exceeded their immediate requirements and to help them drive and progress their future goals.”

Balaji Bangalore

Sales Director, Cummins Car & General

Customized power designed for every challenge

C&G responded by installing four Cummins 2.4 MW 50 Hz diesel generator sets (C3000D5), housed in an ISO 40 ft 85 dB(A) sound-attenuated container—the first acoustic packaged enclosure of its kind. Deployed alongside was a 40 ft containerized 52,000 ltr double-walled bulk fuel tank with fuel polishing and auto fuel filling systems—another breakthrough step for Kenya.

Innovative approach

Cummins’ creative thinking delivered other firsts. Faced with the relatively small NBO01 1,008 sqm location site, Cummins designed a 3-level steel stacking structure to hold the four initial, and 20 future generator sets, above the ground-level-sited bulk fuel tank—a space-saving solution unique to the Africa and Middle East (AME) region.

The high altitude of the site—at 1,650 meters—also required Cummins to adjust the generator set engines and alternators to ensure they delivered the DCC-rated continuous output of 2100 kWe/2625 kVA despite the thinner air. Higher-capacity engines and advanced alternators were incorporated to ensure full performance and to mitigate any corona discharge, the phenomenon that can trigger energy loss at higher elevations.

Other firsts included reducing the radiator size of the Cummins C3000D5 generator sets to allow placement inside the 40 ft containers, and the installation of heavy-duty air filters on the container exteriors to reduce high interior temperatures. By designing these filters for easy disassembling and adding a dismantlable 1000 ltr day fuel tank and other container compartments, Cummins also minimized the costs of shipping the equipment from its UAE source to Kenya.

A stable turnkey solution the customer can count on

Delivering streamlined control

While iXAfrica had planned a single master controller for the finished plant, Cummins recommended one controller to handle six generator set incomers, so dividing management and monitoring to four streams. Once this was agreed, they supplied four Cummins PowerCommand© DMC8000 controllers in readiness for the final 24 generator sets—yet another AME first. The Cummins DMC8000 units are ideal for paralleling multiple generator sets, and provide highly configurable, fully automatic distributed logic control.

Ensuring success

Cummins’ expertise and innovation ensured that Phase 1 of the new standby plant was an unequivocal success. Cummins teams performed thorough tests on the new equipment during site commissioning before conducting a seamless handover to the customer. The finished plant is also safeguarded by a warranty, providing iXAfrica with absolute reassurance that it has a reliable source of standby power for years to come.

With the first part of the standby system in place, iXAfrica is more than on course to keep powering and protecting the data of its fast-expanding client base in Kenya and East Africa.