Vodafone confirms European datacentres will be powered by 100% green energy by July 2021

Vodafone has confirmed that its datacentres, along with its entire European operations, will be exclusively powered by renewable electricity sources from 1 July 2021.

This means 100% of the grid electricity that Vodafone consumes to power its European operations will be sourced from wind, solar or hydropower providers, with which the firm either has direct power purchase agreements or has agreed renewable energy certificates or tariffs.

The move is part of a push by the telco giant to bolster the sustainability of its European operations, spanning its networks, datacentres, retail sites and offices, as it moves to cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2030.

The firm has brought forward plans to purchase 100% renewable energy from 2025 to July 2021, while committing to doing the same across its African operations by 2025.

The company has also joined several others – include at least two colocation datacentre operators – in setting science-based targets to guide the firm towards curbing its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 so that they do not contribute to global warming, and claims to be the first telco to do so.

In line with this commitment, Vodafone claims to have achieved a 30% year-on-year reduction in both its Scope One and Scope Two emissions, which, respectively, relate to those generated directly by its operations and those created by the electricity bought and used by the organisation.

Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read said the company’s decision to power its European operations using 100% renewable energy will be welcomed by its customers as they work towards achieving their own sustainability goals.

“From 1 July 2021, Vodafone’s customers across Europe can be reassured that the connectivity they use is entirely powered by electricity from renewable sources,” he said.

“This is a major milestone towards our goal of reducing our own global carbon emissions to net zero by 2030, helping our customers reduce their own environmental footprint and continuing to build an inclusive and sustainable digital society in all of our markets.”

According to the company’s own figures, it has invested €65m in the past year on energy efficiency and on-site renewable energy projects, which it claimed has contributed to a reduction of 135GWh in its energy usage.

“Vodafone energy use has remained broadly flat during the last year, despite a 47% year-on-year increase in mobile data traffic over the same period from 7,983 petabytes in FY20 to 11,714 petabytes in FY21,” said the company in a statement. “This is due to increased use of more energy-efficient mobile technology and analytics.”