Vodafone network here 100% powered by renewable energy

Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O'Leary said its customers across Ireland can be assured that the connectivity they use is now entirely green

Vodafone has today announced that its entire Irish operations - including mobile and fixed networks, data centres, retail and offices - are now 100% powered by electricity from renewable sources.

Vodafone Ireland's operations typically uses 113 GWh (Gigawatt Hours), which is equivalent to the annual energy use of 27,000 Irish homes.

Vodafone Ireland also said it is offering customers eSIMs on 25 of its top devices from July 2, making it the first Irish operator to do so.

eSIMs are virtual SIM cards that provide the same service as a physical SIM card, but with the data stored in a few lines of code on a dedicated chip in a phone rather than on a plastic SIM.

This eliminates the need to manufacture and ship the associated plastic, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

"We are delighted today to announce that we have reached our revised target of using 100% green energy by the middle of 2021, having originally planned to reach this milestone by 2025," Vodafone Ireland's CEO Anne O'Leary said.

Ms O'Leary said that Vodafone customers across Ireland can be assured that the connectivity they use is now entirely green, powered by electricity from renewable sources.

"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," she added.

Vodafone's entire European operations will be completely powered by electricity from renewable sources from July, following its investment of €65m last year in energy efficiency.

This includes deploying more efficient network equipment and decommissioning legacy networks and equipment.

The move to entirely renewable energy marks a key step towards Vodafone's approved 2030 Science-Based Target of reducing its own carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 and across the company's entire value chain by 2040.

The telecoms company has also pledged to reuse, resell or recycle 100% of its network waste by 2025.

98.7% of Vodafone's network waste in Europe, excluding hazardous waste, was sent for reuse and recycling during, with an overall annual reduction in network waste of 22.5% to 6,307 tonnes from 8,138 tonnes in FY20.

All of the network equipment in Ireland is recycled or reused by another market, with 11,455kg of telecoms equipment sent for recycling by Vodafone Ireland in 2019-2020.

Since 2020, Vodafone's internal asset marketplace across Europe has resold or repurposed excess stock or large decommissioned electrical items like masts and antennae.

This has avoided over 1,250 tonnes of CO2e and saved more than €10m in Europe, the company said.

Vodafone has found that on average, every adult in Ireland has two devices they no longer use with 4.9 million smartphones shelved here.

It is encouraging people to consider using its Fix and Go device repair centres and its trade-in offers, as part of Vodafone's "circular economy".

The company also said it is striving to refurbish and reuse fixed-line equipment multiple times.