American Tower Corporation says increased deployment of on-site solar power in its facilities in Africa has resulted to a 21pc reduction in green house gases in Africa.
The wireless communications infrastructure provider which owns more than 3,500 sites in Kenya says the number of hours the site energy load utilized on-site solar have also nearly doubled since 2019 while the hour run time for power sourced by diesel generators has been reduced by approximately half.
“As a global leader in digital infrastructure, we are very much committed to reducing the GHG emissions associated with our business. Our efforts as geared to make an impact in our continent and allow us to demonstrate our reduction progress, regardless of our significant organic growth, particularly here, where connectivity is increasingly vital but power availability and reliability are recurrently uncertain,” said Marek Busfy, American Tower Africa Chief Executive Officer.
According to the firm’s 2022 sustainability report, ATC estimates that estimate that on-site diesel consumption has decreased by nearly 43.5 million liters annually when compared to business-as-usual operations, which equates to roughly 117,000 MTCO2e (Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) avoided.
Since 2018, the firm has investment $300 million in green house gas emissions and energy reduction initiatives.
Overall, the firm says last year, direct emissions went down 11pc across its 226,000 communications sites worldwide.
The report also indicates that American Tower grew on-site renewable energy capacity to over 85 megawatts at 15,000 sites.
“As we expand digital reach on the African continent, we remain committed to reducing GHG emissions in tandem with our growth. Over the past several years, American Tower has made forward-thinking investments to ensure we achieve tangible reductions in our on-site fossil fuel consumption in Africa,” added Pieter Van Der Westhuizen, American Tower Chief Technology Officer in Africa.
In Kenya, ATC says relevant employees completed a robust training program on hazardous materials classifications, associated health hazards, and proper handling and control of hazardous materials and wastes.
