Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O’Leary. Image: Naoise Culhane
The move is in line with emissions reduction targets at the wider Vodafone Group.
Vodafone Ireland has said that its operations are now 100pc powered by electricity from renewable sources. This includes the company’s mobile and fixed networks, data centres, retail operations and offices in the country.
“Vodafone customers across Ireland can be assured that the connectivity they use is now entirely green, powered by electricity from renewable sources,” said Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O’Leary.
“This is a major landmark on our journey in Ireland to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, helping our customers reduce their own environmental footprint, and continuing to build an inclusive and sustainable digital society here in Ireland and across all of our markets.”
Vodafone also plans to offer eSIMs to Irish customers on 25 of its devices from 2 July. These are virtual SIM cards that provide the same service as their physical counterpart, but with data stored in a few lines of code on a dedicated chip in a phone rather than on a traditional SIM, cutting down on plastic.
These moves are part of a sustainability focus at the wider Vodafone Group.
It is aiming to switch all of its European operations to renewable electricity by 1 July 2021, following an investment of €65m in 2020 in energy efficiency. This involves deploying more efficient network equipment alongside decommissioning legacy networks and equipment.
In Italy, Germany, Ireland, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Greece, Turkey and the Czech Republic, Vodafone has sourced Renewable Energy Certificates or tariffs, as well as having direct power purchase agreements in the UK and Spain.
Vodafone said that these investments have already led to annual energy savings of 135GWh, and a 30pc reduction in the company’s total Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions to 1.37m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The company is working towards reducing its own carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 and reaching that target across its entire value chain by 2040.
Vodafone Ireland is one of 64 companies in the country that has signed the Low Carbon Pledge developed by national network Business in the Community Ireland. It calls on businesses to set carbon emission reduction targets no later than 2024, based on the scientific aims to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
