NEW DELHI: In a bid to reduce its carbon footprint, Bharti Airtel on Monday announced that it will purchase 23,000 MWh of renewable energy by Q4 FY 23-24 for its data centre company, Nxtra. The company will also acquire stakes in the renewable energy project companies established by Continuum Green India Pvt. Ltd. and Vibrant Energy Holdings Pte. Ltd. to power six of Nxtra’s Edge data centre facilities. The projects will lead to a reduction in emissions by 16,370 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.
“With the addition of these new capacities, the total contracted renewable energy capacity for Nxtra data centres will have exceeded 274,000 MWh and it will be well on its way to establishing itself as the leader in building green data centres,” said the company in an exchange filing.
The purchase will be made through an open access route where Airtel will acquire a stake in the project company of Continuum Green, which will supply green power from solar and wind power projects to its Edge data centres in Madhya Pradesh. Airtel has also entered into a similar stake purchase agreement with the project company Vibrant Energy to supply solar power to its Edge data centre in Vijayawada.
“Nxtra is committed to becoming 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 reducing our carbon footprint and leading the Green Data Center infrastructure revolution in the country,” said Ashish Arora, CEO - Nxtra by Airtel.
Nxtra has committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its operations by 100%, i.e., reaching net zero by FY2031. The company said it will achieve this through multiple interventions including accelerated green energy adoption across its operations, energy efficient infrastructure and processes as well as by implementing sustainable business practices at its workplace. The company will invest INR 5000 crores to double its existing capacity to over 400 MW in the next few years. This also includes investments in new facilities in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.