Durban is pressing ahead with plans to build a massive 400MW artificial intelligence data centre in partnership with a South Korean power consortium. It would be South Africa's biggest digital data centre, burning up the equivalent of a staggering 25% of the city of Durban's current electricity supply.

Brushing aside concerns by Democratic Alliance councillors, the eThekwini Municipality has voted to sign a legally binding memorandum of agreement with a South Korean power consortium to develop a new AI data centre south of the city.

According to an official report to the city's economic development and planning committee, the new centre will cost anywhere between $3-billion and $10-billion in a public-private venture. The city would provide land and infrastructure, and the South Korean company would pay for the buildings and all other operational costs.

The proposed 5ha development site is at the mouth of the Lovu River, close to the Amanzimtoti Cable Landing Station. This station is linked to the 45,000km-long 2Africa submarine cable system, which encircles Africa and links the continent to Europe, the Middle East and India.

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The city report acknowledges that AI data centres are "resource-intensive", but does not explicitly state how much electricity and cooling water the new data centre would consume in relation to other customers, nor provide details on the exact source or price of the electricity and water needed.

But last year, during a Daily Maverick investigation, the city confirmed that current demand from all municipal customers in eThekwini is...