Vodafone has secured a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Centrica for solar energy generated by three new solar farms in Lincolnshire, Worcestershire, and Nottinghamshire. The deal helps the telecom secure clean energy supply and supports its goal of reaching net zero in the UK by 2027.
This is the second such deal signed by the company in the UK, following a deal with two onshore wind farms in Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire, which together supply 75 GWh of renewable energy each year.
According to Vodafone’s statement, power purchase agreements are key to its renewable energy procurement strategy. With the two deals, these plants will provide more than 20% of the company’s annual energy requirement in the UK, while ensuring long-term, high quality renewable electricity supplies.
The three solar farms are expected to start power generation by the end of 2022. When fully operational, they are likely to provide more than 100 GWh of renewable electricity per year, enough to power a town of nearly 30,000 households for a year, and save approximately 25,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking 14,860 cars off the road a year.
Around 55 GWh of green electricity will be delivered to Vodafone, with the remaining supplied to balancing and merchant power markets via Centrica’s Energy Marketing & Trading business.
In the United Kingdom, Vodafone’s fixed and mobile networks link 16 million people at any given time. Powering the network consumes 95% of the company’s total energy use in the UK and has the greatest environmental impact.
Vodafone stated in 2021 that its mobile and fixed networks, data centers, retail outlets, and offices would now be powered entirely by renewable energy.
Building on Vodafone and Centrica’s long-standing customer relationship, the arrangement will enable Vodafone to efficiently price hedge their energy supply needs while achieving environmental benefits from carbon savings recorded against Vodafone’s Science Based Targets (SBTi).
