Airtel will power six of Nxtra’s Edge data centre facilities by acquiring stakes in the renewable energy project companies established by Continuum Green India and Vibrant Energy Holdings
Airtel will acquire stakes in the renewable energy project companies established by Continuum Green India and Vibrant Energy Holdings. (Credit: Shrutuja Shirke/ Wikipedia)
Bharti Airtel (Airtel), a prominent telecommunications service provider in India, has made an announcement today regarding its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. Airtel plans to procure 23,000MWh (23GWh) of renewable energy for its data centre subsidiary, Nxtra, by the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24.
To achieve this goal, Airtel will be investing in renewable energy projects established by Continuum Green India and Vibrant Energy Holdings. These investments will enable Airtel to power six of Nxtra’s Edge data centre facilities with clean and sustainable energy sources.
Airtel’s approach involves utilising the open access route, where the company will acquire a stake in Continuum Green’s project company. This stake will enable Airtel to access green energy generated from solar and wind power projects, which will be directed to its Edge data centres located in Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, Airtel has entered into a similar agreement with Vibrant Energy’s project company, ensuring a supply of solar power to its Edge data centre situated in Vijaywada.
With the inclusion of these new capacities, Nxtra data centres will have secured a total contracted renewable energy capacity surpassing 274,000MWh.
Airtel Nxtra CEO Ashish Arora said: “As a leader in India’s data centre industry, Nxtra is committed to become a Net Zero Company by 2031. We believe that India’s growth will be mirrored by its Data Center industry growth in the coming years and are committed to reduce our carbon footprint and lead the Green Data Center infrastructure revolution in the country.”
Nxtra by Airtel is committed to a bold sustainability goal of achieving a 100% reduction in absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its operations, effectively reaching a net-zero emissions status by the fiscal year 2031. The base year for this ambitious target is FY2021.