'Doing the basics well': Vodafone racks up £10m energy efficiency savings in three years
The savings were achieved via a raft of efficiency improvements across 90 of the firm's buildings including offices and data centres
Vodafone claims to have racked up £10m in cost savings and shrunk its carbon footprint by 25,000 tonnes over the past three years thanks to a raft of energy saving initiatives, which have seen its energy use plummet by 100GWh, the telecomes giant announced today.
The energy efficiency improvements were achieved by optimising heating and cooling systems in offices and managing air flow to keep technical sites cool in the most energy efficient way, the firm explained.
Vodafone said the energy it saved - which was validated by third-party energy auditor EEVs - could power a town with a population of 65,000 people for a whole year.
The changes were implemented in partnership with facilities management company Mitie, which Vodafone said helped audit and then optimise energy efficiencies across 90 of its buildings, including offices, contact centres, data centres and Mobile Telephone Exchange (MTX) network sites.
The audits ensured a building's lighting, heating and air conditioning systems were operating at the highest energy efficiency rating, while at more complex locations, such as data centres and MTX sites where 24/7 power is essential to keep the network running, sensors providing real-time data were used to identify energy saving opportunities., Vodafone explained. Temperature sensors in data centres, for example, enabled the airflow to be automatically adjusted up or down remotely, while rapid hibernation of buildings during lockdown also helped minimise energy use, it said.
"Not everything we've done here is revolutionary; we've achieved these staggering savings by doing the basics well and making energy reduction something we think about each and every day," said Scott Petty, chief technology officer at Vodafone UK.
The enhancements keep the telecoms giant on course to meet ambitious climate targets announced earlier this year, including a plan to power its European mobile network by 100 per cent renewable electricity by July 2021, and to help its customers save 350 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 through its connectivity and Internet of Things technologies.
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