Danish telecoms firm TDC Net has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Better Energy to build four solar parks in Denmark.
Two farms will be on the island of Funen, in Svendborg and Nørre Aaby. Two more will be in Jutland, but their locations are awaiting final approval.
The first farms will be online in ‘early 2022’, and by 2023 all four farms will be supplying 140GWh of energy per year, which is enough to cover about 60 percent of TDC Net's consumption.
“As Denmark's largest supplier of digital infrastructure, we want to take social responsibility and support the ambitious plan to convert the entire Danish society to be fossil-free. This is one of the reasons why we aim to be a climate-neutral company already in 2028,” said Andreas Pfisterer, CEO of TDC Net.
TDC said its power consumption is expected to increase by 2.5 percent by 2028, despite declining power consumption in other parts of the business, due to growth in customer data consumption. The company has pledged to be carbon neutral by that time despite the increase, and is also looking into wind power agreements to help it meet its goal.
“TDC Net is building the infrastructure of the future, and it is clear that it must be operated with sustainable, fossil-free, Danish-produced electricity. There has been a minor revolution in solar power in recent years, and it is both gratifying and wise of TDC Net that they think solar power into the company's sustainability work,” added Better Energy CEO Rasmus Lildholdt Kjær.
Across Europe, telcos including BT, Orange, and TIM have all signed PPA agreements in recent months, while Vodafone has announced all its European operations were now powered by renewable energy.
