- Telecoms giant, Vodacom Group, now procures 100% of its purchased electricity from renewable sources, making it the first multi-national telecoms operator on the continent to reach this goal.
To meet this target, Vodacom has several on-site renewable power installations, procures electricity through renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs), and purchases *renewable energy certificates (RECs). Vodacom’s total energy consumption reached 2 076 GWh in the past financial year, of which 1 275 GWh was purchased electricity. Of this, 906 GWh came from grid electricity, not own generation nor covered by PPAs. To mitigate the associated environmental impact, Vodacom acquired RECs to cover this grid electricity for its operations across South Africa, Egypt, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and Lesotho.
To support this transition, Vodacom partners with the public sector to implement innovative renewable energy solutions. This includes working closely with Eskom to develop the virtual wheeling mechanism in South Africa and, with its subsidiary, Mezzanine, developing the technology platform to enable it. Virtual wheeling allows for electricity supply to our local operations to originate from renewable independent power producers, such as wind and solar farms. Vodacom South Africa will be the first to procure renewable electricity through virtual wheeling in the last quarter of 2025.
In other parts of the continent, Vodacom is collaborating with government authorities to encourage investment in renewable energy infrastructure and the growth of independent power producers. Through collaborations like this, Vodafone Egypt purchased 76% of its electricity consumption through a renewable PPA with the government.
While Vodacom’s primary energy source is grid-supplied electricity, there can be limited grid availability in certain countries, resulting in reliance on diesel generators and batteries for power. In the short term, Vodacom prioritises batteries over diesel generators as these impede its decarbonisation efforts. Longer term, the network operator is exploring diesel alternatives, including connecting off-grid sites to the grid, deploying wind and solar, where suitable and exploring newer technologies, including microturbines and hydrogen fuel cells.
In Egypt, for example, the company has trialled a successful “solar flower” solution to overcome the challenge of installing solar power at base station sites due to space constraints. While the site still depends primarily on diesel, the circular flower design, made up of 12 solar panels, helps to maximise renewable energy deployment on available tower space, producing 6kWp and reducing diesel consumption.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
