GHG Emissions, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  September 11, 2023

Airtel Uses Solar and Wind for Data Centers

Bharti Airtel, a telecommunications service provider in India, announced it will source 23,000 MWh of renewable energy for its data center company, Nxtra.

The renewable energy will be added by Q4 FY 23-24. Airtel will acquire stakes in the renewable energy project companies of Continuum Green India Pvt. Ltd. and Vibrant Energy Holdings Pte. Ltd. to power six Nxtra Edge data center facilities and reduce its carbon footprint.

Nxtra by Airtel provides a network of secure, scalable and sustainable data centers across 120+ locations to leading enterprises, hyperscalers, start-ups, SMEs and governments. 

The newly announced purchase will be made through an open access route where Airtel will acquire a stake in Continuum Green's project company to source green power from solar and wind power projects for its Edge data centers in Madhya Pradesh. In a similar agreement, Airtel will source solar power from Vibrant Energy for its Edge data center in Vijaywada.

The total contracted renewable energy capacity for Nxtra data centers will exceed 274,000 MWh.

"As a leader in India's data center industry, Nxtra is committed to become a Net Zero Company by 2031,” said Ashish Arora, CEO - Nxtra by Airtel in a statement. “As India's Data Center industry continues to drive the country's growth in the coming years, we are committed to reduce our carbon footprint and lead the Green Data Center infrastructure revolution in India."

Nxtra by Airtel committed to lower its absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 100% to achieve net zero by FY 2031. The company plans to reach its goal by accelerating green energy adoption across operations, energy efficient infrastructure and processes and by implementing sustainable business practices at its workplace.