Airtel invests in renewable energy projects to power six Nxtra data centers with 23,000 MWh
One of the top telecom service providers in India, Bharti Airtel, will purchase 23,000 MWh of renewable energy by the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year (Q4FY24) for its data center business, Nxtra. According to Airtel’s filing with the stock exchange today, the use of renewable energy will reduce emissions by 16,370 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent year.
Airtel will invest in renewable energy project firms founded by Continuum Green India Pvt. Ltd. and Vibrant Energy Holdings Pte. Ltd. to power six of Nxtra’s Edge data center facilities as part of its goal to lower its carbon impact.
A stake in the project firm Continuum Green, which will deliver green power from solar and wind power projects to its Edge data centers in Madhya Pradesh, would be acquired by Airtel as part of the transaction through an open access channel. To provide solar energy to its Edge data center in Vijayawada, Airtel has also engaged in a similar interest acquisition deal with the project business Vibrant Energy.
The total contractual renewable energy capacity for Nxtra data centers will now exceed 274,000 MWh, and the company will be well on its way to establishing itself as a pioneer in the construction of green data centers with the inclusion of these new capacities, the announcement states.
Being a pioneer in the Indian data center sector, Nxtra is dedicated to becoming a Net Zero Business by 2031, according to Ashish Arora, CEO of Nxtra by Airtel. We are committed to lowering our carbon footprint and establishing green data centers as a national standard because we think that India’s progress will be paralleled by that of the data center industry in the years to come.
A Bharti Airtel subsidiary named Nxtra has committed to achieving net zero absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all of its operations by FY2031 (with FY2021 as the base year). It will accomplish this through several initiatives, such as the quick adoption of green energy throughout its operations, the use of energy-efficient processes and infrastructure, and the adoption of sustainable business practices at work.
Leading businesses, hyperscalers, start-ups, SMBs, and governments can access Nxtra’s 120+ secure, scalable, and sustainable data center locations. For the next five years, the corporation will invest 5,000 crores to increase its current capacity to over 400 MW. Investments in new facilities have also been made in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai.
Nxtra and Bloom Energy teamed up in September of last year to build low-impact fuel cells at its data center in Karnataka. To lower carbon emissions at its data centers and to realize economic and sustainability benefits, the company aims to be the first data center provider in India to use fuel cell technology.
Bharti Airtel’s stock concluded the day on the BSE 0.1% lower at 865.05 levels. The telecom giant debuted lower today at 860.80 against yesterday’s closing price of 865.90. It experienced an intraday high and low of 869.40 and 859.40, respectively.
What is Net Zero and why it is important for the Indian Economy?