MTN South Africa has rolled
out a four-phased green energy program in pursuit of its net zero ambitions by 2040.
According to the network
company in a statement, plans are far in advance to secure and procure
reliable energy, following the launch of a request for proposal (RFP), which
will see the MTN Headquarters becoming a completely “green” office.
The Chief Executive
Officer of MTN South Africa, Charles Molapisi, said in the statement that “climate action is
imperative to secure the future socio-economic development of Africa. In South
Africa, we acknowledge the importance of balancing the reduction of our impact
on the environment with the need to connect more people to high-speed broadband.”
“We are adopting appropriate
mitigation measures enabling MTN and its people to reduce our reliance
on fossil fuel generated power. Our focus is to reduce unnecessary energy use, create more energy efficiencies, increase the use of renewable
energy, and generate more value from conventional sources, such as heat,” he
stated.
The statement continued that MTN is adopting a phased approach toward developing solar renewable energy-based projects under its Net Zero
Energy Strategy commitments to achieve its net zero ambition.
Implementing
the renewable energy project will improve the electricity supply's reliability and cost-effectiveness. Phase one could see an anticipated 7, 143 Mwh
generated (one Mwh is equal to 1,000 kilowatts of electricity generated per hour; to put this into perspective, the average developed economy house uses about 893 kWh a month). These projections are all subject to final bid approvals and evaluation.
The preferred bidder notification for Phase one is expected in December this year.
" The capacity of the facility will be determined by bidders after considering the availability of the rooftop and car park areas and its suitability to extract maximum capacity. However, it is clear based on current expectations that as we move through the phases, this should be more than enough to complete energy self-sufficiency of our building, surrounds and assist greatly in our move to embedding alternative energy solutions into everything we do," Molapisi added.
By: Kanto Okanto
