Orange has teamed with Engie to convert the GOS, Orange’s main data centre in Africa to solar power.
The GOS was built in 2016 in Grand Bassam in the Ivory Coast and hosts IT and telecommunication equipment that supports the services provided by the GOS to all OMEA subsidiaries.
In December 2021, Orange signed an EaaS _Energy as a Service) contract with Engie to convert the GOS to solar power by installing a solar plant on rooftops and solar carports for a total installed capacity of 355 kWp to reduce its environmental footprint.
The commission is scheduled for the second half of 2022.
Alioune Ndiaye, chairman and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa said: "This project is a first in West Africa for Orange in terms of its size and scope and it perfectly illustrates our ambition to speed up our solar projects in order to achieve net zero carbon by 2040.
“In the rest of Africa and the Middle East, we have already implemented several initiatives, as equipping 5,400 telecoms sites by solar panels and building solar farms in Jordan and Mali. We intend to go further."
The plant will be made up of 784 photovoltaic cells and will provide the data centre with an estimated 527 MWh per year of renewable energy.
Orange adds that the initiative is in conjunction with the Ivory Coast government’s aims to make the country an energy hub in Africa by 2030 with 42% of renewables in the energy mix.
Armand Seya, CEO of Engie services in West Africa added: "Engie Africa is active in electricity production, energy services and decentralized solutions for off-grid customers across the continent.
“We are proud to support the GOS (Groupement Orange Services) in its energy transition having ensured the multi-technical maintenance of the Data Centre since 2019 and now with the implementation of this solar plant."